Story about Superiority
We all love a good story. Some of the best stories of all time come from Aesop’s fables. Aesop (620-564 BC) was a Greek slave, fabulist and storyteller who is credited with collecting a variety of tales that illustrate moral lessons. One of his most famous tales is “The North Wind and the Sun”.
The North Wind and the Sun were arguing over who was stronger when a traveler appeared wrapped in a warm cloak. The North Wind and the Sun agreed that whoever managed to make the traveler take off the cloak should be considered stronger than the other. So the North Wind blew as hard as it could, but the harder it blew, the closer the traveler folded the cloak around him; and finally the North Wind gave up the attempt. Then the sun shone warmly and immediately the traveler took off his cloak. And so the north wind was forced to confess that the sun was the stronger of the two.
The fable defends the superiority of persuasion over force. Most people see that the point of the fable is not that the sun is more powerful than the wind. They are each powerful in their own different ways.
Power of wind and sun
In the state of Texas in the United States, I often experience scorching hot summer days above 40°C. Other times, Texas has strong winds, manifested by winds in excess of 100 km, which has already caused significant damage to the tree in my backyard (Figure 1).
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Like the fable, I hope to use the power of persuasion over force to talk to you about the potential of solar and wind energy. As these two forces are very powerful, it is beneficial for humans to harness their powers.
The world turns with energy
World energy consumption is expressed in units of megawatt-hours (MWh). Global energy consumption is estimated at more than 60 million MWh per day of electricity and approximately another 240 million MWh per day in various other forms (i.e. coal, gas, hydroelectric, nuclear, etc.). The combination of these different forms of energy brings total global energy consumption to around 300 million MWh per day.
Interestingly, wind and solar energy sources have enough potential power generation capacity to completely meet the world’s daily MWh needs. Installed wind power generation capacity is estimated at 480 million MWh per day (≈480 / 300,> 150%). Installed solar power generation capacity is estimated at 400 million MWh per day (≈400 / 300,> 130%).
Although there is a lot of potential, there is not yet such high utilization of these forms of energy. For the greater use of these forms of energy, it is mainly a question of developing economical, reliable, safe and robust energy capture and conversion systems to make it more feasible and practical.
Energy storage
Harnessing this energy source is the work of Energy Storage Systems (ESS). ESS allows solar and wind energy to be better integrated into the grid. Energy storage is a critical element in leveraging intermittent renewable and distributed generation technologies. Analog Devices (ADI) offers a wide range of solutions for battery management systems (BMS), charging and energy conversion. ADI’s product portfolio includes battery management system integrated circuits (ICs) for monitoring high or low cell numbers, along with isolated SPI communication channels, as well as future wireless implementations. For high-voltage power converters used to charge/discharge the batteries or turn the flywheel, ADI supplies the ICs and reference designs at the system level, focusing on innovative isolated gate drivers for silicon carbide (SiC) and gallium nitride (GaN) power switches, high-efficiency power management ICs and modules, and isolated communication interfaces.
Conclusão
I hope you enjoyed the knowledge shared in this story. It’s a story that you and I will write for our future. The power of the wind and the sun is all around us, a gift for us to enjoy. I hope I have convinced you that it may be in our best efforts to look for ways to harness its abundant power for the flourishing of humanity. Energy storage systems will be a necessary part of these solutions. It’s no fable, ADI is leading the way in harnessing and delivering the power of the wind and the sun.
Article originally written by Paul Golata for Mouser Electronics: A Lesson from the Wind and the Sun. Translated by Equipe Embarcados.
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