Getting Started



The Components page allows you to easily offset you current Project's energy requirements with Conventional and Alternative Energy Sources.

1. Selecting System will show your Project's power requirement for an average year and allow you to adjusted slider adding alternative energy components to your system. 



The BASE PROPOSED Conventional table is populated with values from the Building Details Profile.


The PROPOSED Conventional Alternative fields indicate how much of the Project's power requirement is offset by the selected Alternative Energy Components you select on this page.


Each field is accompanied by percentage showing the percentage of energy allocated overall and per individual energy type.



2By default your Project will be on-grid and any energy load not accounted for will be offset by conventional grid electricity and natural gas. 



3. There are six Alternative Energy Components currently supported by Ripple Design Studio. 


Solar Electric, Solar Thermal, Geothermal, CHP, Electrical Storage, and Thermal Storage.




A full explanation of each can be seen on the Components Pages
Note, Geothermal and Thermal Storage cannot both be applied on the same System. More details.



Energy can be allocated to each component by adjusting the corresponding Energy Percentages from 0 to 100% of the corresponding energy demand.
Selecting 0% will remove the component from your project.





This allocating energy to a component will add the component's icon to your Project Diagram.



4. Selecting a component will display the Component Details page. 
Note, in Basic Edition only the Total Energy Allocation is displayed.

Manually entering the Total Energy Allocated field create a new percentage button for the desired allocation




5.  Ripple Design Studio will automatically create a best fit estimate for each component selection based on the Project Details and Total Energy Allocation.
These estimates are derived on a growing data set, drawn from several sources and continually updated to provide greater range and specificity. (See more info)
Once you've created the ideal set up for your project you can continue to the Report page. 




Next - Creating a Report 
Previous - Adding Comparison Rates





Component Details



Solar Electrical



Panels which absorb sunlight to generate electrical energy. An array of photovoltaic cells are connected to an inverter and other devices in order to convert photons into usable electricity.
This component can create an energy surplus for Electrical Storage and reduce the size of CHP required to meet electrical demands.

<Best Fit> selects the minimum number of panels required to fill your energy requirements without exceeding 100%. 



These factors are compensated for in the provided estimates.

Total Energy Allocated - Proposed electrical energy to be provided by this component. Based on user input or calculated on Panel Size and Number of Panels.
Panel Size- Size of Panel in Watts. Calculated based on the Total Energy Allocated and Number of Panels
Number of Panels- Total Panels required for the system. Calculated based on the Energy Allocation and Panel Size.
Panel Efficiency - Energy efficiently at STC, typically in a range of 15-20%
System Connection - The electrical output connection to the System.
System Component Cost- The cost of each panel expressed as $/W based on Panel Size if applicable.
Estimated Labor Cost
Estimated Annual Operating Cost 

Total Lifetime Cost (25 years) - The total cost derived from a 25 year lifespan of the component.


Solar Thermal

Panels which absorb sunlight to generate thermal energy. The absorbed heat is stored in a water tank that can be used for domestic hot water or space heating.
This component provides thermal heating when used in conjunction with Thermal Storage systems. 



Total Energy Allocated - Proposed heating energy provided by this component. Based on user input or calculated on Panel Size and Number of Panels.

Panel Type- The equipment used for thermal collection.
Panel Size- Size of Panels in liters.

Panel Area- Length and width of the proposed component.

Estimated Tank Size - Size of tank required to store the heat energy, in liters.

Estimate Labor Cost


Estimated Annual Operating Cost
Total Lifetime Cost (25 years)- Total cost derived from a 25 year lifespan of the component.



Geothermal

A system of underground pipes which transfer energy from the ground using heat pumps. Geothermal makes use of moderate and relatively constant ground temperature to provide heating, cooling, and domestic hot water thereby reducing consumption of energy.

This component is a passive system which relies on ambient ground energy.

<Best Fit> removes the extreme hot and cold design days from the simulation which reduces the overall system size.  



Total Energy Allocated - Proposed heating and cooling energy provided by this component. Based on user input or calculated on Total Pipe Length.
Piping Materials - Material the pipes are constructed from.
Total Pipe Length- The depth of piping in the ground, calculated on the energy allocation provided and soil temperature at the project location.
Estimate Labor Cost
Estimated Annual Operating Cost
Total Lifetime Cost (25 years) - Total cost derived from a 25 year lifespan of the component.



CHP (Combined Heat and Power)



A cogenerator which produces both electricity and heat as usable energy from a low emission fuel. With CHP a greater allocation leads to higher efficiency as more usable energy will be produced to meet the system demand.
This component produces more usable thermal energy when used in conjunction with Thermal Storage systems.  
<Best Fit> sizes the largest generator to meet demand for best efficiency. 


Total Energy Allocated - Proposed electrical energy provided by this component. Calculated from Number of CHPs and Annual Heat Production.

Number of CHPs - Amount of generators required, typically 1 unless part of a specialized use case.
Annual Heat Production - Proposed heat energy provided by this component. Calculated from Number of CHPs and Total Energy Allocated.
Estimated Labor Cost
Estimated Annual Operating Cost
Total Lifetime Cost (25 year) - Total cost derived from a 25 year lifespan of the component.



Electrical Storage



Electrochemical cells which store surplus energy produced by the system to offset future demand. This storage reduces energy waste and generation costs, increasing overall efficiency.
Electrical Storage is sized based on the daily demand of the system. If no electrical energy is being generated by the system, this component acts as a system backup.
<Best Fit> sizes this component to collect electrical surplus from other components

Install Capacity - Maximum surplus electrical energy this component can store at one time. Calculated on Estimated Number of Batteries.
Battery Type - Medium used by the battery to store energy.
Estimated Number of Batteries - Approximate number of batteries required to store the capacity, based on common cell and module sizing. Calculated on Installed Capacity.
Output Voltage - Electrical output of the battery.
Estimated Labor Cost
Estimated Annual Operating Cost
Total Lifetime Cost (25 years)- Total cost derived from a 25 year lifespan of the component.
Life Span - Average lifespan of the component selected.


Thermal Storage




An active form of Geothermal, which stores surplus heat underground for later extraction. Heat pumps connected to underground pipes exchange energy between this system and the ground effectively cooling or heating depending on the seasonal requirement.
This component is best used in conjunction with CHP or Solar Thermal to make use of thermal surplus.

<Best Fit> removes the extreme hot and cold design days from the simulation which reduces the overall system size.  

Total Energy Allocated - Proposed heating and cooling energy provided by this component. Based on user input or calculated on Panel Size and Number of Panels.
Piping Materials - Material the pipes are constructed from.
Total Pipe Length- The depth of piping in the ground, calculated on the energy allocation provided and soil temperature at the project location.
Estimated Labor Cost
Estimated Annual Operating Cost
Total Lifetime Cost (25 years) - Total cost derived from a 25 year lifespan of the component.


Additional Com
ponents


Ripple Design Studio currently supports only one Component of each type within the system to allow for a best fit estimate. In the future additional supported components types may be selected from this menu, such as Wind Power.