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CFL Power Factor
July 14, 2003
We're planning a commercial compact fluorescent lamp (CFL) incentive program. Should we require CFLs that have high power factors (PF)—that is, PFs greater than 0.9?
Content type: Ask E Source | Document ID: TAS-TN-7-03c | Author: Ira Krepchin
Compact Fluorescent Light Programs Shine Through the West Coast Power Crisis
July 1, 2003
Compact fluorescent lamps (CFLs) have improved in quality and come down in price, yet they still make up a very small percentage of the overall residential lighting market. However, in some regions, the combination of an energy crisis and a consistent effort to change the marketing and sales infrastructure ...
Content type: Core Report | Document ID: ER-03-11 | Author: Vicki Fulbright, Andria Jacob, Chris Calwell
Energy and Resource Savings on the Farm
May 1, 2003
Irrigation scheduling (IS) offers farmers a way to reduce costs and improve product in an increasingly competitive market. Preliminary tests show that by tracking soil moisture levels and directing irrigation only to areas that need it, farmers may be able to increase crop quality and quantity. They ...
Content type: Core Report | Document ID: ER-03-07 | Author: Peter Criscione
Incentives for Premium-Efficiency Motors: The Role of Prescriptive Rebates in the Post-EPAct Era
May 1, 2003
Minimum U.S. efficiency standards for induction motors enacted in the Energy Policy Act of 1992 (EPAct) took effect in October 1997. In July 2001, the National Electrical Manufacturers Association (NEMA) adopted a voluntary premium-efficiency (PE) standard, and most motor manufacturers now offer numerous ...
Content type: Core Report, Research | Document ID: ER-03-09 | Author: Dan Greenberg
Leveraging the Compressed Air Challenge to Deliver Increased Productivity and Customer Satisfaction
January 1, 2003
Roughly 70 percent of U.S. manufacturing facilities have compressed-air systems; together these systems account for 10 percent of industrial energy consumption. You might expect them to be finely honed, highly reliable, and efficient. But you’d be wrong. Despite their prevalence, compressed-air systems ...
Content type: Core Report, Research | Document ID: ER-03-01 | Author: Dan Greenberg
Examples of Utility-Offered Power Quality Consulting Services
October 1, 2002
Over the past few years, many utilities have started offering power quality consulting and facility auditing services to their large commercial and industrial customers. This report examines the success of some of these programs and analyzes some of the industry trends in offering PQ consulting and auditing ...
Content type: Research, Service Report | Document ID: PQ-11 | Author: Melissa Tuck
Emerging Fuel Cell Technology
August 1, 2002
Fuel cells are more efficient, cleaner, and quieter than conventional natural gas generators, but those advantages are slim and they come at a high price. Improvements to proton exchange membrane and alkaline technologies have the potential to make fuel cells more competitive. A more likely winner, however, ...
Content type: Core Report, Research, Service Report | Document ID: ET-1 | Author: Jay Stein, Rachel Reiss, Heather Stroud, Ira Krepchin
Moving Beyond Pilot Projects: Utility Business Models for Distributed Energy
July 1, 2002
The market conditions for distributed generation have drastically changed in the past year, but distributed generation still has a role in helping utilities profitably meet customer needs. In this report we examine some of the most common and some of the most creative business models for regulated utilities ...
Content type: Research, Service Report | Document ID: DE-19 | Author: Christine Hurley
Cool Roofs Heat Up
July 1, 2002
Cool roofs created with light-colored roofing material are among the most overlooked mechanisms for reducing energy use and peak demand. They can lower air-conditioning loads by up to 60 percent in some buildings; typical savings are around 20 percent, with simple payback periods of a few years.
Content type: Core Report, Research | Document ID: ER-02-10 | Author: Rachel Reiss and Michael Shepard
The Real Costs of Emerging Distributed Energy Technologies
June 1, 2002
By analyzing manufacturers’ and analysts’ cost predictions alongside real-world case studies, we estimate high- and low-scenario electricity production costs for fuel cells, Stirling engines, microturbines, and sub-10-kilowatt-electrical gas engines for 2007. For the most familiar technologies, we ...
Content type: Research, Service Report | Document ID: EUDE-5 | Author: Michael Brown, Jon Slowe
Energy Performance Workshops: Making the Integrated Design Process Fast and Effective
May 1, 2002
The four- to six-hour Energy Performance Workshops conducted by BC Hydro for integrated building design teams working on commercial buildings enable fast, informed decisions and result in cost-effective buildings that are remarkably energy-efficient. The secret is skilled workshop guidance and software ...
Content type: Core Report | Document ID: ER-02-08 | Author: Larry Kinney
Two-Way Thermostats Creating New Markets for Residential Load Control Programs
March 1, 2002
The latest generation of thermostats can communicate with the Internet, respond to price signals, and be incorporated into gateways. How effective are “smart thermostats” at flattening loads while preserving occupant comfort in an unobtrusive manner? More utilities are conducting pilot programs to ...
Content type: Core Report, Research | Document ID: ER-02-04 | Author: Rachel Reiss
What's In the Deal? Selling Distributed Energy in Competitive Markets
February 1, 2002
By offering finance packages coupled with innovative ways to mitigate technical, price, and investment risk, small-scale distributed energy developers are bringing forward successful projects that would have failed under more conventional deal structures. These developers are well placed to respond to, ...
Content type: Research, Service Report | Document ID: EUDE-4 | Author: Jon Slowe
Economic Evaluation Tools for Distributed Generation
December 1, 2001
Back-of-the-envelope cost calculations are insufficient for any more than a single, simple distributed generation project. E source has identified nearly a dozen software or Web-based tools that help evaluate the economics and perform feasibility studies for distributed generation. These tools range ...
Content type: Research, Service Report | Document ID: DE-16 | Author: Christine Hurley
Stipulated Energy Savings for Performance Contracts
February 1, 2001
Contrary to popular belief, energy performance contracts rarely guarantee savings for the customer. Most often, these contracts actually specify anticipated—or stipulated—savings, with no rigorous measurement and verification measures planned for after project completion. However, stipulated savings ...
Content type: Core Report, Research | Document ID: ER-01-03 | Author: Jim Bradford, Mark Stetz
Dynamic Market Opportunities and Barriers for Standby Generators
December 1, 2000
Distributed energy is increasingly being used by utilities and independent companies as a means to meet peak demand and to provide profit in energy, delivery, and ancillary service markets. This report provides an overview of the issues that are driving the use of distributed energy, such as price volatility ...
Content type: Research, Service Report | Document ID: DE-13 | Author: Joan Gregerson
Refrigerator Replacement: Putting the Chill on Energy Waste
November 1, 2000
Refrigerator replacement programs save energy, lower peak demands, improve power quality, and help the environment. They also serve lower-income customers in a most visible and welcome way. Cost-effectiveness can be achieved by partnering with housing authorities or local community-based organizations, ...
Content type: Core Report, Research | Document ID: ER-00-18 | Author: Larry Kinney, Jim Cavallo
Scaling Back Vending Machine Energy Use with the VendingMiser
September 1, 2000
Cold beverage vending machines are everywhere—in corporate offices, schools, retail stores, and manufacturing facilities. Running continuously, one machine can cost $200 to $350 a year to operate. In practice, these machines only need to be on when a customer is present, or when necessary to keep the ...
Content type: Core Report, Research | Document ID: ER-00-14 | Author: Tertia Speiser, Kirsten Cabanas Homen
Optimal Deployment of Reliability Investments
April 1, 2000
Managing distribution system reliability and power quality has never been an easy job, but with the ever-increasing likelihood of getting sued for damages caused by power supply problems, and even the prospect of having one’s career end prematurely due to an embarrassing supply interruption, utility ...
Content type: Research, Service Report | Document ID: PQ-6 | Author: Richard Brown, William Howe
Strategic Market Assessment for Distributed Energy: Scenarios from a Venture Capitalist
March 1, 2000
Past efforts to scope out the size of distributed energy markets have failed to accurately portray just how much and how fast markets will develop. This report reviews past efforts to size the market, explains why such efforts failed, and employs a scenario approach to anticipate future market developments ...
Content type: Research, Service Report | Document ID: DE-10 | Author: Dominic Geraghty
Six Ways to Sell Power Quality
March 1, 2000
Despite the apparently huge market for PQ solutions, and the fact that power quality is considered to be an essential core competency of an electric utility, selling power quality to end users has become one of the most vexing challenges for electric utilities. In this report, E Source presents six ways ...
Content type: Core Report | Document ID: ER-00-5 | Author: William Howe
New High-Intensity Fluorescent Lights Outshine Their HID Competitors
February 1, 2000
High-intensity-discharge (HID) fixtures are the most prevalent light source for high-ceilinged spaces such as warehouses and athletic facilities, but they now face strong competition from new high-intensity fluorescent fixtures. These new fixtures, which feature extremely thin fluorescent tubes and improved ...
Content type: Core Report, Research | Document ID: ER-00-1 | Author: Jim Rogers, Ira Krepchin
Public-Sector Audit Programs: Lessons Learned
July 1, 1999
At Arizona State University, an extensive audit preceding a lighting upgrade predicted annual savings of about $90,000. The actual savings were $61,000. On Florida's Gulf Coast, auditors collected data that led them to specify electronic ballasts for a lighting retrofit. Once installed, the ballasts ...
Content type: Core Report, Research | Document ID: ER-99-12 | Author: Ira Krepchin
Ozone Laundering: A Technology Ready to Clean Up?
March 1, 1999
Utilities looking to build loads in an environmentally responsible way—or looking for electro-technologies that can help customers—may meet those goals through commercial and industrial ozone laundry systems. Ozone laundry technology, which struggled in the past because systems performed ...
Content type: Core Report, Research | Document ID: ER-99-4 | Author: Ira Krepchin
Dynamic Pricing and the Future of Distributed Generation
September 1, 1998
Although it is too early to say how dynamic pricing in a restructured U.S. energy marketplace will affect the economics of distributed generation, it appears that distributed generators may find their largest opportunity in displacing purchases of conventional network power, particularly as price volatility ...
Content type: Research, Service Report | Document ID: DE-4 | Author: David Armstrong, Laurence Kirsch, Cara Lee Mahany Braithwait
Improved LEDs Set for Exit Sign Market
September 1, 1998
LED exit signs represent a quantum leap in performance over incandescent and CFL-based exit signs. They promise a quick, sure way for facilities managers to reduce energy and maintenance bills. When first introduced several years ago, they were expensive, their light output was uneven, and there was ...
Content type: Core Report, Research | Document ID: ER-98-7 | Author: Ira Krepchin
Selling Distributed Generation: What Buyers Want
June 1, 1998
Companies have invested billions of dollars developing microturbines, fuel cells, and Stirling engines to be used for distributed generation. But most commercial and light industrial energy users in North America have minimal interest in—and little knowledge about—these new technologies. Lessons ...
Content type: Research, Service Report | Document ID: DE-2 | Author: Nicholas Lenssen, Joel Davidow
How Far Have We Come? Remaining Opportunities for Upgrading Fluorescent Ballasts and Lamps
May 1, 1998
The installation of energy-efficient electronic ballasts and T8 lamps in U.S. commercial and industrial buildings has been encouraged by tightened federal energy standards, government programs, and utility and energy service company initiatives. Many believe that the conversion of these lighting stocks ...
Content type: Core Report, Research | Document ID: SM-98-4 | Author: Chris Calwell, Danielle Dowers, Doug Johnson
Evaporative Cooling: Natural Cooling for Dry Climates
May 1, 1998
Evaporative cooling technology is a versatile and energy-efficient alternative or adjunct to compressor-based cooling. In favorable climates, evaporative cooling can fully satisfy building cooling loads, and can also be applied cost-effectively when integrated with conventional chiller systems.
Content type: Core Report, Research | Document ID: TU-98-6 | Author: Dick Bourne
The New Playing Field for HVAC Services
March 1, 1998
Building owners historically have used a familiar set of players to deliver heating and cooling services: local contractors installed and maintained HVAC equipment made by national manufacturers, and the local utility provided the energy to run this equipment. Today, all this is changing as building ...
Content type: Core Report, Research | Document ID: SM-98-2 | Author: Thomas Feiler, Michael Shepard
