Hello. Attached is my testimony to the EFSEC, concerning solar technologies and their impact on CO2 emissions. I ask your attention, in that there has been a delay in solar development. The state of Washington could be a "Mecca for solar manufacturing", and could literally employ the entire state....but there are obstacles to us inventors from getting our solar (and micro wind) products into mass production. I ask your attention.

Testimony: Martin E. Nix

PO Box 95173

Seattle, WA  98145-2173

To: Energy Facility Site Evaluation Council:

Thank you for allowing me to testify before this council. I am an inventor, of US Patent 5308187. It is a device that can be retrofitted to any fossil fuel burner to reduce natural gas and coal and oil consumption. Literally any fossil fuel burner can be retrofitted by solar collectors. In effect, combustion air, or better known as make up air, is heated by solar energy and important compressed by solar energy, and then blown into an underground pipe system. The hot and compressed and now high velocity air is blown to the firebox of a large coal burning power plant, or in its simplest manner to the firebox of a natural gas hot water heater.

The patent specifically addresses a "parking lot paving" that collects solar energy, but its real implication is for use of high temperature solar collectors to heat air and compress ambient air so it is hot. Let's get this straight. This invented device, now nearly ten years old, does not violate any laws of physics, and can be retrofitted to most any power plant, with proper engineering. The field of preheated air for combustion purposes is well known established industrial process....what is new and novel is making air for combustion from solar energy. Wind and hydro energy can also be integrated to make solar combustion air.

I want to register a loud complaint with the Council. Solar inventors, such as myself, are being deprived of any venture capital from private venture firms, and we are not, repeat not, receiving support from utilities, nor the Department of Energy. The fact is solar inventors, who have legitimate devices, are not being deprived of private capital; we are in fact a target of a campaign of slander, and discrimination and campaigns to discredit.

I want the Council to understand, most utility executives in the Northwest are aware of my, and other's work. They don't even want discussion of, let alone knowledge of solar inventions such as this. The local news media is aware of my research, and refuses to publish it, even simple letter to editors. The Oil and Gas Journal, a magazine read by most Oil and Gas Executives, have copy of the impact of this invention, but refuse to print it. Simply put, there is an attempt to discredit, and misrepresent this and other solar technology. The fact is we can significantly reduce natural gas and coal consumption in this nation by retrofitting solar collectors to existing power fossil fuel power plants. I have attempted to contact PacifiCorp, and other power plant designers, including NEPCO, & NESCO, and what I am finding is distinct stonewall. My technical report was hand carried to Kenneth Lay by his son, if my memory serves me correct. I can elaborate, but I want to bring to the Council attention that us solar energy inventors have no where to go, to bring our inventions to market. In fact the exact opposite, we are targets of campaigns of slander, unemployment, and other malfeasance. I have requested a justice department investigation. There are other inventors, inventions, and things that still have not been patented, and these are not getting adequate capital. There is no Bill Gates fund for solar inventions to help hospitals in India! There are no solar cooker advancement grants. There is no research into retrofitting power plants with industrial process solar collectors. In effect, what I am seeing promoted as industrial process solar energy, i.e. Boeing's tower of power, I call "fake" solar. It is doing more to propel the myth of solar energy being too expensive, when in fact the cost can be drastically cut.

To date, the best research I have seen on the topic of "hybrid" coal/solar, gas/solar, oil/solar power plants was done by Charles Bensinger, of Santa Fe, New Mexico. They analyzed the Four Corners Power Plant for retrofitting with solar technologies. Our collusion was if we are able to make significant cost reductions in construction, hybrid power plant operations (solar/fossil fuel) could be cheaper than fossil fuel only operation, or solar energy operation. I did do a study, with Seattle City Light staff cooperation, of the potential of retrofitting Centralia Steam Plant in Centralia Washington. Mind you, this power plant has one of the rainiest climates in the United States, so it was a worse case scenario. Our conclusion there were nearly 21 areas of cost reduction to the power plant, if adequate land could be found. There is a small complication with the Centralia Power Plant in that there is a structural issue with the exhaust of the power plant, in that it can't get above 900 degrees or so. There are issues relating to heat exchangers. But nevertheless, if sufficient land area could be found, and with integration of wind energy and hydro energy to make combustion air, it could be done. There were several areas identified: lower operation cost of air pollution scrubbers, extension of local coal mine life, elimination of need to import coal from out of state, lower fuel cost, more local employment, integration of mine reclamation funds as part of the cost of construction of the solar collectors, less energy used for start up of the coal fire box, less air pollution health cost, less abrasion and wear and tear on the power plant, addition to local tax base, etc. In my opinion, the gas turbine combination cogeneration power plants would be ideal for such an invention. In effect, the gas turbine sucks solar produced hot air from the solar collectors. We can make other very significant cost reduction in solar collector manufacturing. By using "commonly accepted" manufacturing principles, such as interchangeable parts, using common machines instead of "gee-whiz" machines for manufacturing, using light weight but durable materials, manufacturing components such as pipes using recycled materials, using off peak electrical power from the power plant, we can develop low cost solar collectors to make hot and compressed air. Important to note, that there are different designs and types of solar collectors, and each has to be engineered specifically to economics. It might even be possible to transmit hot and compressed and high velocity air via a long distance insulated pipeline from the eastside of the mountains, just like we pipe high pressure water today. The fact is the cost can be brought down, with adequate engineering.

These prefeasibility engineering studies cost money, often in the million dollar range. Engineering and computer time does require funds, along with document and information retrieval. There is a lot of invention here, but none of this violates any basic principle that any Mechanical Engineer knows. Using preheated air as the "heat transfer" media for solar collectors is much cheaper than using "heat transfer fluids", "melted salts", "high pressure steam", or any other such media. Air has a lower density, but its simple nature makes it very usable. Air can be squeezed like a diesel engine, and thus made even hotter. By going to a "positive pressure" instead of a "negative pressure" firebox it can help in keeping the air/fuel mixture in the combustible range, i.e. stochastic. The goal is not to defeat the purpose of the heat exchangers, but they can be used to preheat water, or even to drive a large "Freon" turbine (using earth friendly Freon).

I ask that the EFSEC please order that all future power plant construction, also consider sufficient land area to install solar collectors near by. The EFSEC should require that all fossil fuel power plants being constructed have also the ability to retrofit sufficient number of solar collectors so as to power at least half of the fuel consumption. What disturbs me is the persistent refusal on part of these power plant designers to talk to us solar engineers.

WPPSS, now known at Energy Northwest, refuses to discuss or study conversion of Plant One, the uncompleted nuclear power plant, to be solar/hybrid power. They just punch a few numbers in the calculator, totally misinterpreting what is being said. In short, they want to only study conversion of the power plant to be nuclear. And do not want to properly evaluate alternatives. In my opinion, this hybrid solar/fossil-fuel power plant can be built for less cost than nuclear conversion. Trouble is, I don't have the adequate resources to do a complete feasibility study.

To fully power a large scale power plant like Four Corners, you will need approximately 24 square miles of land area, with efficient high temperature solar collectors. Keep in mind, the coal strip mine often has just as much solar energy collected on it as from the BTUs mined from coal. Often times the land area for the coal strip mine, which needs to be reclaimed anyway, is sufficient land area to power a coal burning power plant. The reason for my study emphasizing coal burning power plants is because the economics are more promising than from a gas fired power plant, or even an oil refinery. The fact is we can power our power plants and oil refineries with a significant amount of energy coming from preheated and hot air for combustion. My analysis is that wind turbines, and photovoltaic powered fans, can compress air. This compressed air can then be inserted into flat plate solar collectors, or even evacuated tube type collectors, to preheat the air to 300 degrees. Then more concentrating type of solar collectors like "trough type" can heat the air to 750 degrees. At 750 degrees air becomes very hot, hot enough to damage pipes, and valves and controls. However, larger type dish type solar collectors can get the temperature even hotter, but closer to the power plant. In short, by designing to economics, and having each type of solar collector designed to economics, you can drastically reduce the cost. Especially if manufacturing of solar collectors is considered as part of the design.

Presently, a coal burning power plant will operate the flame at nearly 1500 degrees F. Preheating the air to 750 degrees helps, however, if the air is squeezed much like how a diesel engine works, the air temperature can be increased. It is typical P/V/T (Pressure/Volume/Temperature).

There are other areas of solar energy research that is NOT getting attention. I know of one inventor from the Washington State, he invented a foldable set of panels that when assembled form a parabolic curve dish solar collector...which makes steam. You can't buy it at Home Depot. I have invented a solar picnic table that cooks food, but a derivative of it can make hot water. I am also the proud inventor of solar cookers, which now is in production for refugee camps worldwide. What I am saying is bluntly, solar inventors in this state are not, repeat, not receiving capital to get their products to market. I am very critical of Microsoft’s charity, for example. They recently listed 14 challenges for health care. Missing was item #15, mass production of solar devices to help people in third world nations. If we attack the cause of health problems, it will eliminate the need for many of the hospitals in the first place. Poverty and physical deprivation is very real upon this planet. One definition of being rich is you have lots of energy to waste. One definition of being poor is you have no energy.  What these Microsoft millionaires fail to see, is that their energy wasteful lifestyle, is doing more harm than all their charities put together! Microsoft has a policy of "No Solar Investments". Microsoft (along with other large corporations) have no incentive to integrate solar technologies as part of their business strategies (ps. no electricity, no internet). Fluke, for example, will not develop solar powered rechargers for their instruments, supposedly for liability reasons, which I dispute. We have numerous DC powered battery devices in our society, each consuming electricity.  Boeing could be developing alcohol as the fuel source for the 7E7, and mass produce those alcohols from solar energy. While the company has a small solar research group, still though I see it as over engineering, and not doing the things that can be done to reduce cost, and get efficiency up.(For the Record, my solar power plant/refinery proposal did pass Boeing's technical review). There is no awareness on part of the people who make these decisions, and it is squarely because they aren't listening. In my opinion, if there was rapid development of solar energy devices, it would stop a lot of the poverty caused conflicts, and more closer to home: employ everyone in the state of Washington. Let me point out, that many of these Mega Homes were built in 1980, and these could have had solar energy integrated then, when they were built. I predict the next solar construction boom will be conversion of these big homes. It would have been cheaper back then to install the solar equipment. The technology existed then, and these Mega Home owners, didn't care then. With the high price of energy, they are paying attention.

Let me illustrate a situation here. We have no real manufacturer of solar hot water heating systems in the Northwest. What I see being installed is very expensive, and is imported from Canada, England, China, or Japan. In short, the solar hot water heating industry is nearly non-existent, and expensive. We are exporting jobs to oversea nation. We need to develop a manufacturer of solar hot water heating equipment engineered specifically for the Northwest Climate. Granted, solar hot water heating may not work very well in December, but it can work very well during a drought, in the summer, exactly when hydro dams don't have much electrical power to sell. I envision a portable solar collector that can be retrofitted to almost any existing hot water heater (electric or gas) via the drain valve. What we need a boxable, portable, assemblable/disassembale, and easy to understand and use solar devices. Something where people can install themselves without having to hire a professional plumber, or tear out the wall. And it needs to be for under $1000 dollars, not $4000! There is a lot to be said about how to build a solar hot water heater, but key to understanding is that it is cheaper to make these" in factories"  in mass production, than it is "one a time" at the construction site. What we need is quality, long lasting equipment, that is portable, and installable by the owner...kind of like furniture. 

Let me illustrate how my solar combustion patent could help solar hot water heating. It is common knowledge that a natural gas hot water heater can be converted to solar energy by preheating hot air. In effect, the air is already hot, so there is little or no need to burn natural gas (or propane). By developing hot air collectors that could be retrofitted to natural gas hot water fire boxes, it reduces the need to burn natural gas. It is kind of tricky, but solar hot air can be mixed with natural gas to form a hybrid solar/gas system. This is a relatively easy retrofit to any natural gas hot water firebox, with some expertise.  This means that solar equipment can be retrofitted to almost any natural gas hot water heater without hiring a plumber, or have to install expensive heat transfer systems. What is needed again, are lightweight, durable, and solid and long lasting hot air solar collectors. My picnic table doubles as a solar collector, so it is "ergonomic" so to speak.

While I see the encouraging events associated with "photovoltaic net metering systems", and with Big Wind (large windmills), I want it to be known that this technology could have been developed twenty years ago. I worked on the NASA/Boeing Mod-1 project. I can personally attest the Boeing Company deliberately mismanaged the project. Literally, on one day, practically all fifty (or so) windmills blew over in one day. The Boeing Co was deliberately mis-engineering the project, and it was done so to protect investments into other fossil related energy sources. These two technologies "PV net metering" and "Big Wind" are now status state of the art technologies. But still we need breakthroughs in Small Wind. I call them light bulb size, ranging in 100 to 1,000 watts, not much bigger than a bicycle wheel. When locating windmills in urban areas, these need to be sited carefully. Concerns need to be addressed if the tower falls over on your neighbor’s fence, noise, and blade burst. Large windmills in urban areas are out of the question, since failure could be very destructive of your neighbor’s roof...but several small windmills can safely power a house. We need to develop more stand alone systems, like "wind heat" where a small windmill, used just in a winter storm, can heat a room....thus a natural gas or electric furnace does not have to work so hard. There are advantages in installing numerous small systems, instead of one big system, in that these become revenue producing as soon as they are plugged in. Again, I see the "small wind" technologies as being under funded, and deprived of investment capital. There needs to be cost reductions, and quality improvements, which can be done with adequate manufacturing R&D.

There are numerous concepts not getting reviewed. A concept that I have requested of City Light is to review floating solar collectors behind the hydro dams. I have no one to talk to about it. Let alone the computer facilities and access to engineering data to properly evaluate it. I envision floating solar collectors each about truck trailer size (40X8X1/2 feet) each cabled together. These would be like miniature boats encapsulating solar photovoltaics. These would be cabled to shore. Along with underwater quality power cables for ground and power. It is a little known fact, but the amount of sunlight falling on the reservoir often is just as much power as the dam produces. In my opinion with adequate manufacturing, this floating power plant will provide electrical power to the hydro dam, exactly when there is a drought and not much rainfall. Every solar system engineer I have known honestly believes that solar technology will solve the "fish vs. dam" controversy. Take notice American Indian Tribes! These floating solar collectors help to shade and cool the water, but also allow the operating engineers to change operational characteristics of the hydro dam...so it more closely mimics the river. Solar produced compressed air could be used to help the gasification level. The additional solar produced electricity allows for more water in the fish ladder during summer droughts. It allows the reservoir lake to remain stable, and not rise and lower. It also allows the reservoir to be at a lower level, more helpful to fish. It is this kind of flexibility that helps make the dams more power producing but also more environmentally safe. Again, we can do some manufacturing at the dam site, allowing for use of off peak electrical power.

What I am trying to tell the council is there are numerous solar technologies just being shelved. I am an inventor, with Patent 5308187, and I want this council to know, the potential of this invention. I also want this council to be aware that us solar inventors are not getting capital investment, and in fact the exact opposite. There are people who have a vested interest in the existing fossil fuel system, and they should be required to offset every CO2 emitted with solar and wind technologies. The issue is squarely lack of investment capital into solar manufacturing. There are numerous patented devices that could with adequate investment be placed profitably in the market. Let's get this straight; the power plant builders do not want to talk to us solar people. I ask that you force the power plant builders to talk to me!

Signed:

Martin Nix, CIS, AsSc, BUS

Inventor Patent 5308187