COOL POWER PRODUCTS:BUSINESSES, FARMS and households are turning to alternative sources in an effort to become more self-sufficient in sustainable energy.

But as power output from these micro-generators fluctuates, much of it ends up being lost to the grid. Fluctuation is also a problem for those who want to sell excess power to the grid as network operators require voltage stability.

Irish company, Cool Power Products, has developed a unit called Emma (Energy and Micro-Generator Manager) that addresses both problems and is suitable for households and for businesses with micro-generators. In a domestic situation, Emma controls the balance between the micro-generator’s output and household demand. This is achieved by continually adjusting the amount of power sent to a resistive heating element in the house, such as an electric hot water immersion heater.

Tim Cooper, who developed the product, says that “without the device over 50 per cent of the output from a micro-generator will be lost to the grid because of the mismatch between output, determined by nature, and demand, determined by the user.”

Micro-generators have not caught on in Ireland but they are big business in Britain.

Cooper says a number of network operators in the UK are using Emma because it solves their voltage stabilisation problem and allows renewable energy generators to be connected to the grid on sites that would otherwise require expensive and time-consuming transformer and network upgrades.

Cool Power Products has more than 100 installations in Ireland, the UK and France. One of the first units installed in Ireland is operating alongside a 6kW wind turbine in Schull, Co Cork.

Emma is made in Ireland and it costs from €2,500. This price might deter some, but Cooper claims in the UK, for example, the typical pay-back period is two to three years and in some cases immediate as it avoids the need for an expensive connection upgrade.