PSMA Update

Note: Various agencies and reporting organizations have used Net-Zero-Energy (NZE) or Zero-Net-Energy (ZNE) interchangeably; but it is one and the same thing.

In the past, Net-Zero-Energy (NZE) buildings meant different things to different agencies. In its early definition, it required that no fossil fuel would be used in the building, but CEC later defined it as: what you derive from the grid, you put it back. The "net-zero" was important, not how or from where it was derived. The NZE performance in a building can be achieved by integrating various energy systems including generating on-site renewable energy, preferably by using solar technology, having energy-efficient appliances that use less energy and deploying software that tracks and controls energy use during low-demand and high-demand periods.

ZNE is an elegant proposition. Who does not want to live in a clean, beautiful, futuristic building where the air is clean, the environment is sustainable and technology is used for the human development? There exist a few prototypes that are available for viewing on the Web. One prototype is in Borrego Springs, California and built by Clarum Homes which uses a 3.75-kilowatt photovoltaic system. Borrego Springs is located about 90 miles north east of San Diego, California, a well known for its desert community. This house is not located in a major metropolitan area. Clarum Homes builds high-performance custom homes.

With ZNE taking effect in 2020, the question for the power electronics industry is what this initiative means in terms of its requirements and business opportunities?

If Californians accept this proposition, it will spur demand for the renewable energy and the power management products and services used in the construction and appliance industries. There will result in an "increased opportunity" beyond normal forecast. It will provide a new paradigm in building construction and significant use of power electronics for this new market. CEC has rightfully not provided any specific guidance as how to achieve these results and thus provides the power electronics industry plenty of leeway to experiment with various systems and integrating them. The construction and power electronics Industries will have to be innovative and create their own pathway to achieve desired results.

However, one of the main issues in this building construction is the acceptance by the user. Invariably this initiative will add cost to the building construction, which some may rightfully argue, that in the long term will be recovered with lower energy bills. It is the short term pain for the long term gain argument. And then there is the global warming factor and its associated social responsibility. NZE buildings will use less fossil fuel, so they emit less CO2 in the atmosphere, hence aid in the effort of lessening global warming. The new NZE buildings may be more expensive, but will it provide benefits in the long term. Once again, will Californians accept this argument?

The goals of this initiative, or any initiative for that matter, can be achieved only if they are commercially feasible and accepted by a large population. One of the vivid examples of such a noble effort was when California's Air Resources Board (CARB) passed a mandate in 1990 that stated" ... by 1998, 2% of new car sales of the Big 7 largest car makers will be zero emission vehicles or ZEV and the volume to increase to 10% by 2003...". California did achieve this goal. And after recognizing that such a goal would be impossible to meet and pressure from the auto companies, CARB changed its ZEV mandate.

In the last four years, a year after the original initiative, California has gone through wrenching economic slowdown, especially in the housing industry. Known as the sub-prime mortgage debacle, vast swathches of many California neighborhoods have become ghost towns with abandoned foreclosed homes. Major California cities notably Stockton and San Bernardino have filed for bankruptcy due to the recession and loss of revenues due to the massive foreclosures of homes in those cities. As a result, home prices have tumbled significantly due to oversupply. The housing industry in California has yet to recover.

Will recession-wary Californians buy expensive, technological and energy efficient modern homes? 2020 is still eight years away and much can change during that time. In 2009, California was ground zero of the housing crisis. That was almost three years ago and California has not yet recovered from that crisis. Will the memory of ground zero of the housing crisis scuttle the plan of the net-zero-energy buildings of the future?

The views expressed in this article are solely of Mohan Mankikar. They do not represent the views of PSMA. Mohan Mankikar has been a part of the power supply industry for over twenty five years. An active member of the PSMA since its founding, he had been a board member of the PSMA and currently serves on the Advisory Council.