The sixth UN Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change report, which came out in the spring of 2022, was clear: technologies are available now to make the transition away from a fossil-fueled economy. However, making these swift changes is not as simple as flipping a switch.

For industry, rigorous guarantees are needed before decisions and costly investments are made, and UConn engineering researchers have developed a dynamical model to help companies determine if renewables make economic sense.

Pratt & Whitney Associate Professor in Advanced Systems Engineering Matthew Stuber worked with two undergraduate students and co-lead authors Justin Rastinejad ’22 (ENG) and Sloane Putnam ’22 (ENG) answer this question in their recent paper published in Renewable Energy.

Stuber explains that this research answers a question he has been thinking about for several years now, “How do we start incorporating renewable energy into conventional industrial processes? Is it always worth it? The alternative is to buy energy in the form of fossil fuels, invest in renewables, or generate energy onsite through renewable means.”

The answers require accounting for many variables, including costs, power inputs and outputs, and determining which renewable technologies to adopt in lieu of fossil fuels. It is complex and non-linear, says Stuber, and must account for fluctuations in generation, since renewables are reliant on conditions like the sun and wind. The most accurate estimations require a rigorous evaluation process, and oftentimes manufacturers simply do not have the time and resources to perform these complicated assessments.

“My original work in this area was focused on desalination and water treatment in applications for agriculture where there is a lot of wastewater, a lot of water scarcity, and a lot of water consumption,” Stuber says. “This is at the heart of the food, energy, and water nexus. The one thing I was trying to answer was how do you do this sustainably? If it is a very energy or resource-intensive process, maybe we can use renewable energy to help reduce our climate impact, and stop this feedback loop from happening, because basically, water scarcity and drought are tied to climate change, and burning fossil fuels is contributing to climate change. This research is a holistic approach to the problem.”

The new paper focuses on questions surrounding incorporating renewable solar energy and determining which kind would be feasible to use in manufacturing processes. The solar technology that most people can recognize is photovoltaic (PV), which generates electricity using solar panels that collect sunlight and convert solar energy to electricity. The other technology is solar thermal, where the sun’s rays are concentrated (akin to a magnifying glass) and the energy is transferred to fluid within pipes, where it can be stored or transferred further in the form of heat. Though solar thermal has been used for years in many other areas of the world, and it has great promise for use in industrial applications, it was largely forgotten in the U.S. after the price for natural gas plummeted alongside increased rates of fracking.

“Most manufacturing processes require heat in some form, they might be using steam to sterilize or drive something, or they might use other kinds of thermal sources in their manufacturing process,” says Stuber. “Manufacturing is a huge chunk of the economy and it’s a huge energy consumer. Recent releases from the Department of Energy announce projects to electrify everything.”

Electrification can seem daunting, but renewables like solar thermal start to make more sense than “conventional” power sources in some scenarios. Stuber says that if you approach the problem from a power plant perspective, currently the process essentially turns fuel (fossil or nuclear) into thermal energy, and thermal energy into electricity (by powering turbines), which sends electricity to the grid. Manufacturers then take the electricity and convert it back to thermal energy for their needs.

To look for a better process, researchers set out to see if solar power generated on-site was a feasible option.

“A decade ago, when we were looking at this problem, we argued that thermal would be better for certain applications,” says Stuber. “However, with the massive reduction in the cost of photovoltaics, we were seeing photovoltaic prices plummeting, and everyone was saying PV is the way to go for everything. Now we’re 10 years on and I was wondering where we are today.”

The researchers performed a formal analysis of a hypothetical manufacturing process that requires heat in different regions of the United States, including California, Massachusetts, and Colorado, to test different solar resource availability and holistically assess economic viability.

They created a mathematical model, and the results were promising.

“The main takeaway is that batteries are extremely expensive, and they don’t make sense in the manufacturing sector right now, but solar thermal wins. If you have a manufacturing process that needs heat within a certain temperature range, solar thermal is going to be the choice for you,” Says Stuber.

The results showed that solar thermal is a viable choice to reduce fossil fuel reliance for industries that rely on low to medium heat for processes, regardless of location or scale.

“This model is highly adaptable. It can account for changes in location, process size, natural gas price, and many other specifications. This helps companies decide where and how to install a solar-powered industrial site,” says Rastinejad.

The model is available on GitHub to be used by anyone hoping to perform their own assessments. Stuber says this model can be helpful not just for companies but for anyone looking to do this type of rigorous analysis.

“The model simulates the exact performance of the system on an hourly basis over an entire year. It’s taking in near real-time solar data and simulating if the technology would be sending energy to the process, storing it, discharging the storage, or using backup energy if there is cloud cover. The model represents the performance of the system and can help with accurate design and more accurate economic estimates of the cost or cost savings of implementing renewable technology.”

Without a rigorous and accurate analysis, it is not possible to know for certain if these kinds of upgrades are economically viable. We need to quickly transition away from fossil fuels, the researchers hope this tool will help.

“My goal with this paper is to convince companies, policy makers, and the general public that they now have the tools to make costly decisions with confidence; I want the reader to understand that anyone can adapt this model to find the best configuration of hybrid solar thermal power for their own site-specific conditions,” says Putnam.

Stuber is now working with a team of undergrads as part of the Clean Energy and Sustainability Innovation Program (CESIP) to look at strategies to decarbonize UConn using some of the same ideas from this paper,

“Can we install renewable energy around campus to offset energy needs? I see this assessment as an important tool in addressing those concerns,” says Stuber.

UConn has been selected to lead a nationwide decarbonization effort in which it will guide a network of companies, universities, and research centers in a sweeping project to expand the use of clean-energy technologies in America’s industrial sector.

The U.S. Department of Energy named UConn to establish and operate its national Onsite Energy Technical Analysis and Support Center (TASC), in collaboration with three minority-owned small businesses, a consultant, and a nationwide energy consulting company.

The honor builds on UConn’s reputation as a national leader inadvancing clean energy, a research area in which President Radenka Maric is an internationally known expert, and in which the University has committed itself to making a worldwide positive impact.

As the national TASC site in the Department of Energy decarbonization initiative, UConn will centrally coordinate technical analysis and programmatic activities of eight regional organizations known as Technical Assistance Partnerships (TAPs) at locations across the U.S.

The TAPs will work directly with local manufacturers and other large energy users on clean energy strategies ranging from fuel cells and renewable fuels to geothermal energy, industrial heat pumps, solar photovoltaics, solar thermal, thermal storage, wind power, and more.

“The center being established at UConn will not only create a positive impact on reversing the worldwide impacts of climate change, but it also further cements Connecticut as the home of the clean energy industry, which continues to add thousands of new jobs each year and attract millions in economic investments,” Connecticut Gov. Ned Lamont says.

The UConn-based TASC’s expertise will be key in helping facilitate the installation of real-world onsite energy projects in the field through TAPs, and in quantifying results so the Department of Energy can track the decarbonization efforts and outcomes.

“The UConn team combines the requisite highly technical engineering capabilities and programmatic expertise to multiply the impact of the regional Onsite Energy TAPs,” the U.S. Department of Energysaid in its announcement.

UConn will establish the center with DNV Energy Insights USA Inc., Analytical Energy Solutions, eSai LLC, Impact Energy, and RE Tech Advisors, LLC.

The Department of Energy says the UConn team will be key in “providing manufacturers and large energy users with unbiased expertise and analysis needed to deliver an equitable, clean energy future.”

The regional Onsite Energy TAPs include companies, universities, and research centers in Pennsylvania, Illinois, New Hampshire, Texas, Washington, North Carolina, Oregon, and California.

UConn had already put its stake in the ground as a national leader in the area through its research and its aspiration to achieve carbon neutrality at Storrs by 2030, and has laid a strong foundation through a variety of initiatives already in place at UConn Health in Farmington and regional campuses.

Maric says the opportunity to lead the national industrial decarbonization effort will let UConn demonstrate its expertise, determination, and vision to fight climate change as part of the U.S. long-term strategy, which presents multiple pathways to a net-zero economy by no later than 2050.

Addressing environmental justice and energy equity will be integral to meeting climate goals at UConn, nationally, and globally, Maric adds. Adopting existing technologies and developing new technologies to reduce greenhouse gas emissions presents a significant opportunity to address environmental issues and inequities.

“In addition to addressing carbon pollution and public health, investments in net-zero-carbon technologies and industry decarbonization can strengthen U.S. and Connecticut manufacturing competitiveness, which then creates new jobs and economic opportunities that improve quality of life,” she says.

“UConn profoundly appreciates the Department of Energy’s choice to place our team in this important role, as we have strengths in the four key ‘pillars’ of industrial decarbonization: energy efficiency; industrial electrification; low-carbon fuels, feedstocks, and energy sources; and carbon capture, utilization, and storage,” she adds.

UConn’s efforts have been noticed at the national level even before the newest honor, including duringa visitin spring 2022 by U.S. Secretary of Energy Jennifer Granholm, who noted UConn’s major contributions to the field.

They included the2021 establishmentof theSouthern New England Industrial Assessment Centerat UConn’s Innovation Partnership Building (IPB), putting UConn among a group of 32 universities in 28 states sharing $60 million in federal funding on programs that provide free energy assessments to small and mid-sized businesses.

That center’s assistant director, Ravi Gorthala, will lead the newly announced plan for UConn to establish the Onsite Energy Technical Analysis and Support Center on campus.

Gorthala, a professor in residence in mechanical engineering, brings strong energy efficiency and renewable energy expertise to the project, also serving as associate director for research at the UConn Pratt & Whitney Institute for Advanced Systems Engineering.

“I have been an energy researcher, preacher and practitioner all my life and I am deeply concerned about climate crisis, which is the most pressing and imminent global threat that the humanity faces. This project is one of the tools in the arsenal to fight climate crisis through decarbonization of industrial and building sectors.,” Gorthala says.

“I am grateful to U.S. Department of Energy for awarding this project to UConn and delighted to lead this project in close and equal partnership with DNV with its nationwide presence offering comprehensive energy services,” he adds.

George Bollas, director of the UConn Pratt & Whitney Institute for Advanced Systems Engineering says the new TASC adds to the portfolio of projects performed at the institute that target clean energy, decarbonization, energy efficiency, and support of our local communities.

“Dr. Gorthala’s research is grounded in real needs and has a real impact on the communities around us. His passion for clean energy and his commitment to supporting the efforts of the state and the University to reduce our energy consumption are strong and honest,” Bollas says.

Richard S. Barnes, Region President for DNV’s Energy Systems North America operations, says they are pleased to partner with UConn in supporting the program.

“Our national presence and deep technical bench across the complete energy value chain will help to accelerate a sustainable and equitable energy transition for the industrial sector,” Barnes says. “We look forward to close collaboration with DOE, the regional Onsite Energy TAPs, and the National Laboratories to transform how industry and large energy users produce and consume energy across the nation.”

The new initiative comes as UConn also has many clean energy programs and partnerships also underway or anticipated.

Last fall, for instance, UConnestablished a partnershipin fall 2022 with the DOE’s National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) on a collaboration for clean energy and grid resilience. Among the many goals of the partnership, UConn and NREL will work together to invest in the development of joint solutions to clean energy challenges in the Northeast and increase funding opportunities not otherwise available to either individual institution.

UConn and the State of Connecticut are also partnering with other East Coast states and institutions in seeking to host a regionalNortheast Hydrogen Hub, as envisioned in the 2021 federal Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act. The states submitted their combined application this spring, and a decision is expected this fall.