 |
Project Papers
You will note that all the papers below have a copyright (c) notice on them. However, at the same time, we want all visitors to our site to use our data and papers freely. All we ask is this; whenever you use our papers or data please give us, The Ravina Project, the credit. The philosophy underlying this whole project is to give people data and information that will allow them to make good choices when they spend their green dollars, think about green issues or policies and do green research.
2023 Papers
For those households that have done all the hard work of insulating and have a high efficiency fossil gas furnace that is only a few years old, is it possible to reduce your heating carbon overhead further by using electrical space heaters? If your Grid carbon overhead per kilowatt-hour is below 180 grams is it possible to lower your household carbon release per heating degree day during the heating season? This paper tries to answer this question.
2021 Papers
What is the current potential for EV parking and charging in our neighbourhood? What criteria do we use to make the count? How many charging stations do we have? In this brief paper we answer these questions.
The Pocket EV Plug in Potential
*****
Is there a way of modifying our boiler logic when we call for hot water on demand that would reduce our summertime usage of natural gas? We used the modifications over the past two summers. We compare our gas usage against previous summers to determine if there is a difference. We were surprised by the amount.
*****
2020 Papers
We explore carbon accounting using our data and the average carbon footprint per kilowatt-hour for our grid. We find some surprising results when we apply our accounting principles. This version of our paper replaces an older version. This version takes into consideration fugitive Methane from the natural gas distribution system.
*****
2019 Papers
If where you are in the world your grid is dirty, what will be the result if you electrify using those dirty Watts? The question is, "Are there any benefits to electrification in such circumstances?". In this paper we use our data and the data from our Model 3 to attempt to answer this question.
The Ravina Project - Why Electrify on a dirty grid?
*****
2018 Papers
How do you improve household heating efficiency on a budget? In this paper we show using our utility invoices that efficiencies can be achieved using many low cost modifications to both the inside and outside surface of the house.
The Ravina Project - Household Heating Efficiency
*****
2017 Papers
What are the implications of converting our house to electrical heating? This paper builds a simple model of the house and tries to estimate the effects across several parameters including: carbon footprint, costs and efficiencies.
The Ravina Project - Household Decarbonization
*****
2016 Papers
Combining our extensive generation data with papers that estimate the energy invested in each square meter of solar PV we calculate the Energy Returned on Energy Invested (ERoEI) for our solar panels. This paper is an extended version of the original paper and takes into consideration the RETscreen database and Curtailment. As with the first paper, it suggests that solar PV may not be sustainable from an energy accounting point-of-view.
The Ravina Project - Solar PV Sustainability
*****
In this paper we evaluate our efforts of modify our house to an Amory Lovins inspired house. We use our extensive data to make some observations upon his ideas and ideals from the household level.
The Ravina Project - A Critique of Lovins on the Soft Path
*****
2015 Papers
Has the time come for a close look at Grid resiliency at the household level? We look at what we have learned from our own prototype Grid resilient house. Is it possible to design a Grid resilient house 'lite' that incorporates the essentials of our learning but does not break the household budget? We explore these questions and more in our first paper of 2015.
The Ravina Project - Household Grid Resiliency
*****
2014 Papers
We offer a simple model, based upon our data and the growing threat of CO2 pollution, to energy policy makers where ever they may be. Some of the paper is devoted to our local issues but much can be applied to any location that policy makers think about.
The Ravina Project - Think Globally - Act Locally
*****
The following paper contains virtually everything we have learned since January 1st, 2007 about solar energy harvesting here at about 43 degrees latitude. Over that time we've accumulated over 2100 continuous days of generation data. We look closely at what the data has to say regarding Capacity Factor and other related metrics.
The Ravina Project - Solar PV Capacity Factor
*****
In 2010 the world's power supply was on the order of 17.5 Terawatts. Of this about 80% or 14 TW came from fossil fuelled generators. In this paper we focus on the industrial output required to replace 7 Terawatts of fossil fuelled power generation with renewables over the course of 65 years.
The Ravina Project - Towards a Cooling Planet
*****
2013 Papers
What would it take to make our household totally carbon free in energy usage? How would it work? What kind of power supply would we build? Can we use our databases to provide a reasonable solution? This paper tries to answer these questions.
The Ravina Project - A Carbon Free Household rev 7 02
*****
We have upgraded our 2012 paper on household cooling efficiency. We have added several new methods for calculating our summertime cooling efficiency plus a section which tries to measure our differential response to heat and Humidex. Are we more responsive to heat or Humidex? Do overnight temperatures or Humidex play a role in our use of energy or are daily maximum temperatures and Humidex dominant factors in energy use? Our paper attempts to tease out these factors using our set of large databases.
Household Thermodynamics Summer rev 6 04
*****
2011 Papers
Here is the latest in our series of papers on Household Thermodynamics. We have expanded the paper to model our summertime heat flow through our house.
The Ravina Project - Household Thermodynamics October 2011 12
*****
Is it possible to generate enough electrical energy to cover the energy we would use driving an electrically powered car for a year? We use four years of generation data to find an answer.
The Ravina Project - PV and E-cars 06
2010 Papers
This is the latest in our Household Thermodynamics series of papers. It has much more data and two new databases that allows us to track the energy flow through our house and the Entropy we create.
The Ravina Project - Household Thermodynamics July 2010 06
*****
This paper discusses the effects of ambient heat upon solar PV power output using data from our own databases and those at Environment Canada.
The Ravina Project - Ambient Heat and Solar PV Power Output 04
*****
2009 Papers
This paper is a project update. It highlights our goals and evaluates their achievement. The paper points out some of the interesting trends we have observed and the surprises we have encountered.
The Ravina Project Update 2009 07
*****
2008 Papers
This paper is a continuation of the Household Thermodynamics paper published last year. It takes into consideration another year of heating data and modifications to the house.
The Ravina Project - Household Thermodynamics July 2008 04
*****
This paper describes the results of our summertime data run where we compared two different array angles to the sun. We also include the raw data in the paper.
The Ravina Project - Summer 2007 Data Run 04
*****
This new paper details the workings of a Third World sun tracking system that could be hand operated yet lose, at a maximum, 10% of the sun's energy due to bad sun angles upon the collecting surface. The paper also details the results of an experiment using our dynamic array to gather data to evaluate the hypothesis described in, "Solar Project Theory and Practice 14".
The Ravina Project - Solar Array Aperture Analysis 21
*****
This paper proposes a simple solar efficiency standard. It uses that derived standard to investigate the effects of heat, if any, on the generation capacity of a solar array.
The Ravina Project - Solar Array Efficiency 06.pdf
2007 Papers
Here's an overview of The Ravina Project that was written early in the project.
The Ravina Project - Description and Status 14.pdf
*****
This paper describes the theoretical underpinnings of our Solar Project.
The Ravina Project - Solar Project Theory and Practice 14.pdf
*****
This RFP went out to several dealers who sell the Skystream 3.7 wind turbine.
The Ravina Project - Wind Project Request for Proposal 04.pdf
*****
This is the first in a series of yearly papers we are doing on the thermodynamic properties of our house. As we do upgrades to the insulation over the years those properties should change.
The Ravina Project - Household Thermodynamics August 2007 07.pdf
*****
Here's an overview of the boiler system in our house that operates as our furnace and hot water heater.
The Ravina Project -Trinity T150 Boiler 01.pdf