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Soaring energy costs are causing financial hardships for local governments, school districts and many U.S. businesses, diverting money once committed for education and other public services. To help mitigate the problem, many are increasingly turning to energy conservation.
"A significant portion of a building's energy consumption comes from a building's lighting system, motors for air conditioning and heating for domestic hot water," says Jeff Stokes, a vice president at World Energy Solutions Inc. (symbol: WEGY), a publicly traded energy services company based in St. Petersburg, Fla.
World Energy Solutions continues to develop several leading-edge technologies to address these energy-consuming systems, including the following:
* Hot water on demand: In November 2005, World Energy Solutions acquired a patent application to develop a hydrogen-oxygen production system that creates cheap hot water.
"Our prototype apparatus, utilizing our technology, has heated ground water from 70 degrees Fahrenheit to 195 degrees Fahrenheit in less than 15 seconds using common household electrical current at a cost of six-tenths of one penny per minute," says Benjamin Croxton, chief executive officer and chief financial officer of World Energy Solutions. "Utilizing common household current to create hydrogen/oxygen gas [from water] allows us to operate our design anywhere in the world where there is electricity. It is the goal of World Energy Solutions to further develop this technology for potential use in commercial, industrial, residential and military applications."
* Motor technologies: In the normal operation of an induction motor, the motor will draw almost the same amount of power from the utility company regardless of how much work it is doing. When a motor is doing little work, portions of this power can be removed electronically, effectively turning off the power. This allows the motor to operate more efficiently.
"Once properly adjusted, these controllers sense fluctuations in the load of the motor and adjust the power and torque levels automatically," says Robert Depalo, vice president of research and development for World Energy Solutions. "This means that as the amount of work the motor is doing changes, the amount of energy that powers that motor is also changing, translating into continued, unimpeded economical operation."
* Lighting technologies: World Energy Solutions uses several types of controllers to address the majority of commercial and industrial ballast and bulb combinations. They reduce consumption by regulating the power to lighting devices or modifying the electrical sine wave to the devices. These technologies can provide energy savings of 20 percent or more. Lighting retrofits can be used in conjunction with the controllers for additional energy savings.
For more information, visit www.wesinc.net. - NU |
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