Renewable Energy
Making highly specialized copper products that pave the way for generating clean energy
The world needs new ways of generating, transmitting and storing energy and, for as much as this is a market of growth and opportunity, it is a market of immediate, urgent necessity.
Luvata is commited to doing all it can to help its partners in this sector make tomorrow brighter and cleaner than today.
- Over 40% of the energy used in most cities is used to heat or cool buildings and yet most buildings ignore the 1kW of solar energy that falls on every square metre of their roofs. Is that acceptable? No.
- Over half of the energy in every barrel of oil is used to extract and distribute the energy from the other half. Is that acceptable? No.
- While the wind is blowing and the sun is shining and the tides are
moving, much of the fossil fuels we are burning is being wasted. Is this
acceptable? No.
Enabling wind power to be a real choice
The projected growth rate of the global cumulative installed wind power capacity from 2020 to 2022 is expected to grow by around 9,0 percent per year. As a results, the growth rate of wind power should be enormous in the coming years.
The world’s biggest wind turbine manufacturers rely on generators from companies such as ABB. ABB is a leader in power and automation technologies. With about 115 000 people operating in around 100 countries ABB has a leading global share in this market. ABB works in cooperation with world-class suppliers and their chosen partner for many years has been Luvata. The high purity and excellent electrical conductivity of our oxygen-free copper in ABB generators, makes the most of wind-generated energy in a variety of applications.
This same technology and experience in generator production has also be applied to tidal power generators.
Sunwire® for photovoltaics
The sun is a giant fusion power plant. Every year the earth receives more than 219,000 billion kWh of energy – all free of charge. Photovoltaic technology harnesses the energy from the sun by transforming sunlight into electricity.
Luvata is a pioneer in photovoltaic energy. Our Sunwire photovoltaic ribbon was developed in conjunction with PV module manufacturers and its invention made the automated production of affordable solar panels a reality. Since then, technology has moved on and continuous development has allowed us to turn the once emerging technology into practical solutions for the world.
Sunwire is a copper-based, tin-alloy plated flat ribbon, which is used to create high-performance connections to the silicon cells at the heart of photovoltaic modules. Sunwire is compatible with both silicon and thin film technologies.
Read more about photovoltaic ribbon Sunwire here.
Fusion energy - the sustainable solution
Fossil fuels were the energy source that helped shape 19th and 20th century civilization. Burning coal, oil and gas however, has proved highly damaging to our environment. As concerns grow over climate change and declining supplies of fossil fuels, fusion energy has the potential to provide a sustainable solution for our global energy needs.
Fusion is the process at the core of our Sun. What we see as light and feel as warmth is the result of a fusion reaction.
ITER - the world largest experimental nuclear fusion reactor
The International Thermonuclear Experimental Reactor (ITER) is a large-scale scientific experiment intended to prove the viability of fusion as an energy source.
Based on the 'tokamak' concept of magnetic confinement, the plasma - a hot, electrically charged gas - is contained in a doughnut-shaped vacuum vessel. Strong magnetic fields are used to keep the plasma away from the walls; these are produced by superconducting coils surrounding the vessel and by an electrical current driven through the plasma. These superconducting coils use superconductors that have zero resistivity when cooled below the critical temperature.
Harnessing the energy produced by fusion could be the answer to our global energy concerns and what helps to shape our 21st century. Luvata is working with organizations around the world to unleash the power within fusion energy.
Read more about our Superconductors here.
c77f.jpg)
