|
The
Renewable
Energy Institute
is now
affiliated with a Solar HCPV Our
HCPV solar power plant is the ideal solution for: Minimum
Size Available: 1 MW Sites in California, Nevada, New Mexico now available Utility Scale Solar Power: Highest Efficiencies - Lowest Costs See one of our following our sites for more information: www.ConcentratingPhotovoltaic.com www.ConcentrationPhotovoltaic.com www.ConcentratedSolarPower.com www.ConcentratingSolarPower.com www.HighConcentrationPhotovoltaic.com
Email: info@ConcentratingSolarPower.com
|
Concentrating
Solar Power
www.ConcentratingSolarPower.com
Concentrating
Solar Power Project Development, Engineering,
Procurement, Construction,
Feasibility Studies and Consulting Services
Tel. (78327)7
758 - 00277
Email:
info@ConcentratingSolarPower.com
We
provide Concentrating Solar Power:
Project Development
Engineering
Feasibility Studies
Legal
Procurement
Construction
Finance/Funding/Investments
Power Purchase Agreements
Interconnection Agreements
Molten Salt Storage
Greenhouse Gas Emissions trading credits
Operations & Maintenance
and other consulting services for clients interested in "Utility-scale" Concentrating Solar Power plants.
Our work is performed on a strict adherence to "vendor-neutrality." We seek to maximize the return on investment from both the economic and environmental aspects while simultaneously minimizing the operational expenses for our clients.
What is Concentrating Solar Power?
Concentrating solar power plants produce electric power by converting the sun's energy into high-temperature heat using various mirror configurations. The heat is then channeled through a conventional generator. The plants consist of two parts: one that collects solar energy and converts it to heat, and another that converts heat energy to electricity.
Concentrating solar power systems can be sized for village power (10 kilowatts) or grid-connected applications (up to 100 megawatts). Some systems use thermal storage during cloudy periods or at night. Others can be combined with natural gas and the resulting hybrid power plants provide high-value, dispatchable power. These attributes, along with world record solar-to-electric conversion efficiencies, make concentrating solar power an attractive renewable energy option in the Southwest and other sunbelt regions worldwide.
Why
Concentrating Solar Power is one of the Few "Superior"
Renewable Energy Technologies
Concentrating solar power plants use the high annual solar irradiance of the geographic location to generate "carbon free energy" and "pollution free power."
For generating power after the sun sets, many owners/developer of concentrating solar power plants are now installing "Molten Salt Storage" systems that reserves enough energy to allow for electricity generation throughout the nighttime period.
Steam turbines and
gas turbines powered by coal, uranium,
oil and natural gas are the fuels used today for generating power and electric grid
stability. These fuels provide both base-load and peak power. However,
these same steam turbines can also be powered by the high temperature
heat from concentrating
solar power
plants.
Concentrating solar power plants in the 30 MW - 200 MW range are now operating successfully in locations from California to Europe. Nearly every day now, new concentrating solar power plants are being planned for construction. The concentrating solar collectors are very efficient and they also completely replace the fossil fuels that were used in traditional power plants. Today's concentrating solar power plants generate the heat needed to generate electricity at a cost equivalent to $50 - $60 per barrel of oil (equivalent). This cost is expected be slashed by 50% to below $25 - $30 per barrel in the next 10 years.
Just like conventional fossil-fueled power plants, concentrating solar power plants generate base-load and peaking power electricity.
Just like fossil fuel fired conventional power plants, concentrating solar power plants have an availability that is close to 100 %, but without the carbon emissions, carbon dioxide emissions, hazardous air pollutants, nitrogen oxides, volatile organic compounds and greenhouse gas emissions that fossil fuel power plants emit.
A
concentrating
solar power plant with a
molten salt storage facility for
full load operation during the nighttime period is currently being built in the Spanish Sierra Nevada near Guadix.
This concentrating
solar power
plant will generate 50 MW of
power.
Another feature that distinguishes concentrating
solar power plants
is the opportunity for combined generation of heat and power - a technology that
is called "Integrated
Solar Combined Cycle" which achieves the highest possible efficiencies for energy conversion. In addition
to power generation, such plants can provide steam for absorption
chillers and/or adsorption
chillers, industrial process heat or thermal ocean water desalination. A design study for such a plant was
completed in 2006. This plant is scheduled to be commissioned in early 2009.
This Integrated Solar
Combined Cycle will provide 10 MW of power, 40 MW of district cooling and 10,000 cubic
meters per day of desalted water for a large hotel in Jordan.
What is "Net Zero Energy?"
Net Zero
Energy - when applied to a home or commercial building, simply means that
they generate as much power and energy as they consume, when measured on a
monthly or annual basis.
What
is "Copper Indium Gallium Diselenide?"
Copper Indium Gallium diSelenide (CuInSe2) is a material that provides an extremely high absorption of light ( 99%) to be absorbed in the first micron of the material. Copper Indium Gallium diSelenide is projected to be the revolutionary material that some are saying, could put typical "central" power plants and some electric utilities, out of business, as it will be much cheaper for customers to generate their own onsite power with Thin Film Photovoltaics made from these materials.
When additional small amounts of Gallium is added to Copper Indium diSelenide, this increases its' light-absorbing band gap, thereby making the solar panel more closely match the solar spectrum of the sun. This, in turn, increases the voltage and the efficiency of the Thin Film Photovoltaics solar panel.
Solar panels produced with Copper Indium Gallium diSelenide cells have reached efficiencies of more than 20% - which is much higher than the other Thin Film Photovoltaics.
Copper Indium Gallium diSelenide solar panels create more electricity from the same amount of sunlight than other Thin Film Photovoltaics panels. This translates into a higher conversion efficiency.
The conversion efficiency of Copper Indium Gallium diSelenide PV technologies is very stable over time, meaning its power output remains stable over many years, while the power output of many other PV materials can rapidly decline with time.
What are "Building Integrated Photovoltaics?"
Building Integrated Photovoltaics (BIPV) are solar energy systems that are integrated into a part of the building, that serve as the building's exterior or the building's skin.
Commercial buildings and facilities (including houses) that integrate their own solar power systems into the building's exteriors, are referred to as "power buildings."
The technology that makes this possible is "Thin Film Photovoltaics."
What are Thin Film Photovoltaics?
Without a doubt, the most exciting technology in the solar power industry is "Thin Film Photovoltaics." Thin Film Photovoltaics technology represents the next big thing in renewable energy and solar power as it integrates nanotechnologies into the production of solar photovoltaics.
According to the Department of Energy, the recent technological advances in thin film photovoltaics make this a very exciting time to be in the solar energy industry. These advances have led to many new developments in the components and manufacturing of thin film photovoltaics. This has made thin film photovoltaics cheaper to manufacture as they are also now easier to install since they are extremely versatile, flexible, bendable, and much lighter.
Thin film photovoltaics have led many to believe that as much as 50% of our nation's future power will be generated by "power buildings" that integrate "building integrated photovoltaics" or "BIPV" into the building's skin or exterior surfaces, that convert sunlight into "pollution free power" for use in the building. This also designates these buildings (and homes) as "Net Zero Energy Buildings" and make the option for going grid-free, or not connecting to the grid, a real possibility.
According to the Department of Energy, the market potential for printed electronics will grow into a $47 billion market by 2018. Thin film photovoltaics represents a significant portion of this market - and based on this heavily researched solar technology, thin film photovoltaics now represents a $20 billion/year industry in the U.S.
The solar PV panels produced under the thin film photovoltaics umbrella have the potential to produce power significantly cheaper power than today’s typical silicon-based PV panels. The panels are usually made in the form of a monolithic piece of glass, upon which various thin films are deposited, although a number of firms are working on depositing the materials on a substrate, such as stainless steel or plastic.
Types of Thin Film Photovoltaics – there are primarily three types of thin film photovoltaics and include:
Amorphous Silicon
Cadmium Telluride
Amorphous Silicon had the largest share of the thin film photovoltaics market through 2006. It has been researched for the longest period of time, may be the best understood material of the three and has been commercial for the longest. Cadmium Telluride has the remaining share and is growing.
Thin Film Photovoltaics Advantages over Crystalline Silicon Photovoltaics
Lower cost of production of the
Lower production facility cost per watt - CapEx
Uses as little as 1/500 of the amount used in standard silicon cells
Lower energy payback – amount of time until the product produces more energy than was utilized in its manufacture.
Produces more power/watt
Superior performance in hot and cloudy climates
Integrates seemlessly in homes and buildings – see Building Integrated Photovoltaics
Produces the lowest cost power
What is a Net Zero Energy Building?
A Net Zero Energy Building produces as much energy as it uses over the course of a year. Net Zero Energy Buildings are very energy efficient. The remaining low energy needs are typically met with on-site renewable energy.
There is no such thing as a "zero energy building."
EVERY building uses energy.
The important considerations are,
1. How efficient is the building?
2. How much energy does the building use?
3. How much "carbon free energy" or "pollution free power" is generated by the buildings' own onsite renewable energy system?
4. What are the
utility company's prices for the excess power generated and sent to the
grid?
(see: Net Energy Metering)
5. How difficult is it to interconnect the renewable energy system of the building with the utility company's powerlines/electric grid?
At the heart of Net Zero Energy Buildings is the idea that buildings can meet energy requirements from low-cost, locally available, nonpolluting, renewable sources.
What is Net Energy Metering?
Net energy metering is used to measure a customer's total electric
consumption against that customer's total on-site electric generation. When
a customer's onsite generation of power exceeds the amount that they use, the customer's
solar energy system (or other renewable energy system) exports the extra electricity to the
grid. When the power requirements of the customer exceeds their onsite
generation of power, the customer imports the electricity they need from
electric grid. The customer pays the electric company for any extra power they
use over the amount they generate - OR - the customer receives a credit or
refund from the electric company if they exported more power to the grid, than
what they consumed.
Much focus is placed on energy efficiency as the most cost-effective way to reduce energy use in commercial buildings. However, consumption can be reduced only so much. There is a point at which the cost of adding efficiency measures is higher than that of using renewable energy such as thin film photovoltaics and other solar energy systems.
Aggressive energy efficiency strategies can reduce a building's energy consumption by 50% to 70%. Renewable energy technologies must be used to reach the goal of a net-zero energy building (NZEB).
Various supply-side renewable energy technologies are available for Net Zero Energy Buildings. Supply-side technologies, often called energy producers, collect natural energy and transform it into a useful form. Examples of these technologies include PV, solar hot water, wind, hydroelectric, and biofuels.
All renewable sources are favorable over conventional energy sources such as coal and natural gas; however, the U.S. Department of Energy recommends the following ranking for these options (the lower numbers are preferable):
|
Option Number |
NZEB Supply-Side Options |
Examples |
|---|---|---|
|
0 |
Reduce site energy use through low-energy building technologies |
Daylighting, high-efficiency heating, ventilation, and air-conditioning equipment (HVAC), natural ventilation, evaporative cooling |
|
On-Site Supply Options |
||
|
1 |
Use renewable energy sources available within the building's footprint |
PV, solar hot water, and wind located on the building |
|
2 |
Use renewable energy sources available at the site |
PV, solar hot water, low-impact hydroelectric, and wind located on-site, but not on the building |
|
Off-Site Supply Options |
||
|
3 |
Use renewable energy sources available off site to generate energy on site |
Biomass, wood pellets, ethanol, or biodiesel that can be imported from off site; waste streams from on-site processes that can be used on-site to generate electricity and heat |
|
4 |
Purchase off-site renewable energy sources |
Utility-based wind, PV, emissions credits, or other "green" purchasing options; hydroelectric is sometimes considered |
This hierarchy is weighted toward renewable technologies within the building footprint and site. Rooftop PV and solar water heating are the most applicable supply-side technologies for Net Zero Energy Buildings. Other supply-side technologies such as parking lot-based wind or solar energy systems may be available.
The goal in developing the ranking was to encourage technologies that:
Minimize overall environmental impact by encouraging energy-efficient building designs and reducing transportation and conversion losses
Will be available over the lifetime of the building
Are widely available and have high replication potential for future Net Zero Energy Buildings.
Solar
Trigeneration
www.SolarTrigeneration.com
Through an affiliated partner company, we are now installing *Free Solar Power Systems for qualified commercial businesses in California and Texas.
To qualify for our Free Solar Power Systems, businesses must:
Have a good credit rating
Agree to buy all of the power generated from the Free Solar Power Systems under a 20 year Power Purchase Agreement
We expect ALL of our customers will be very happy knowing that the clean, green, renewable power they are using is:
More reliable than the electricity from the power company.
Saving the environment by reducing Greenhouse Gas Emissions and helping reverse Climate Change and Global Warming.
Generated from their own reliable Solar Power System on their roofs.
Saving Money! At today's published electric rates at Southern California Edison, TXU, Reliant and Centerpoint, most of our customers will also enjoy a SAVINGS on their present electric bills by as much as 10% from what they are now paying for their electricity from the electric utility.
Under warranty.
At the end of the Power Purchase Agreement, the Free Solar Power Systems is then owned by our customers and the savings really start to add up as the power and electricity generated from their Free Solar Power Systems is now free!
To find out if your business qualifies for one of our Free Solar Power Systems, call (832) 758 - 0027 today!
"Solar
Trigeneration™"
is Here!!
Residential,
Commercial and Industrial Customers:
Reduce
or COMPLETELY
ELIMINATE
Your Electric Power & Natural Gas Expenses
Stop
Paying High Electric and Natural Gas Rates!
"Cut the Cord" to the Electric Company!
Our "Solar Trigeneration™" Power and Energy Systems
Generate Carbon Free Energy and Pollution Free Power
Which is Sustainable, Clean, Renewable and Affordable
Solar Energy Systems provides cooler, cleaner, greener power and energy project development services. We specialize in renewable energy technologies and renewable fuels including; B100 Biodiesel, Biomethane, E100 Ethanol and Synthesis Gas.
Our Solar Energy Systems are an environmentally-friendly and economically-superior choice to expensive natural gas and electricity. Additionally, our renewable energy technologies generate "green tags" or a Renewable Energy Credit.
We provide
Solar
Power and Energy systems that we refer
to as "ecogeneration" solutions that produce cooler,
cleaner, greener power and energy for our customers and our environment.
Unlike most companies, we are equipment supplier/vendor neutral.
This means we help our clients select the best equipment for their
specific application. This approach provides our customers with superior
performance, decreased operating expenses and increased return on
investment.
Engineering and Economic Feasibility Studies
Project Design, Engineering & Permitting
Project Construction
Project Funding & Financing Options
Shared/Guaranteed Savings program with no capital requirements.
Project Commissioning
Operations & Maintenance
Green Tag/Renewable Energy Credit Application, and Marketing
For more information: call us at: 832-758-0027
Net
Zero Energy Buildings
www.NetZeroEnergyBuildings.com

The Sun
Powers the Audubon Nature Center's Solar
Trigeneration
System at Debs Park
in Los Angeles. The Audubon Nature Center's
building is one of the world's first
"Net Zero Energy
Buildings."
The Solar
Trigeneration
System Consists of a 10 Ton
“Solar Absorption Cooling"
System Matched with a Solar
Electric Power System
By: Monty Goodell, M.B.A.
www.SolarTrigeneration.com
Los Angeles,
California
There
is now a better, more efficient, “pollution
free power” solution
for cooling, heating and powering homes and commercial buildings where
solar energy is available.
Solar
Trigeneration
is defined as the simultaneous generation of cooling,
heating and power with
only the free solar energy from the sun providing the "fuel". Solar
Trigeneration is now
a reality at the Audubon
The
Audubon
Nature Center
is
totally powered by the sun’s energy and the building operates
entirely “grid-free” and without any electric connections to the
electric grid, or natural gas connections – a truly sustainable power
and energy solution. Best of all, the Audubon Center doesn’t rely on
the over-burdened electric grid or even natural gas. Therefore,
the Audubon Nature Center
NEVER receives an electric bill or
natural gas bill.... ever!
The
Audubon
Nature Center's 5,000 square foot office
and conference facility is powered by a Solar
Trigeneration system
that features a 25-kilowatt solar electric power system where the energy
is stored in a bank of batteries. The Center is cooled by a 10-ton solar
absorption cooling
system powered by an array of very efficient solar heat pipe vacuum tube
thermal collectors. The
collectors heat the water to temperatures of 200+ degree F stored in a
1,200 gallon insulated tank, another type of inexpensive battery. The Solar
Trigeneration system at
the Audubon not only provides the air-conditioning in the summer but
also heats the building in the winter, and provides the hot water for
the kitchen and bathrooms.
Absorption
chillers, and cooling
with solar energy with an absorption chiller are not new technologies.
In fact, absorption chiller technology is over 70 years old.
The first refrigerators were powered by propane gas to run the
absorption chillers that used ammonia as a refrigerant.
Electricity and the electric compression chiller gained
popularity only because of the convenient “plug and play” appliance
and relatively cheap electric rates.
Electricity is no longer economically, or environmentally
“cheap.”
Cogeneration
refers to the simultaneous production of heat and power. Cogeneration
plants are much more efficient as compared with typical power plants.
Cogeneration is usually about 55% to 70% efficient in terms of
overall system efficiency, or about 200% more efficient than typical
power plants. However,
cogeneration power plants are fueled by natural gas, which is a limited
resource, and whose price has exploded as a result of all the new
cogeneration plants that have been built and fueled by natural gas. Even
in early 2001, the price of natural gas was only $2.75 - $3.25 per mmbtu.
However, with all of the new cogeneration power plants, limited supply
of natural gas, and the huge demand placed on natural gas for fueling
the new cogeneration plants, the price of natural gas is now around
$7.50 - $8.50 per mmbtu.
Solar
Trigeneration is an EcoGeneration
solution. EcoGeneration
refers to a power and energy system that uses the “natural” energy
or fuel that is available for a specific site or location. Such energy
or fuel includes, solar, wind, BioMethane,
geothermal, and ocean power, including ocean tidal and ocean thermal
energy conversion. For
example, in the desert areas of the
Today,
the cause of the summer peak electric demand, electric supply problems,
and black-outs, are the result of the energy crisis in
Greater
Demands on California’s Limited Electric Supply, Lack of New Electric
Power Supplies, and This Summer’s Heat Wave are Compounding the
Problem Leading to the “Perfect Electric
Storm”
Many
people will remember the movie “The Perfect Storm” from several
years ago, when several storms came together in the northeastern part of
the
The
most likely time of year for a black-out in
How
Do We Prevent the “Perfect Electric Storm” from Occurring
in California and Other Regions in the U.S.?
Another
major concern is how do we prevent the “Perfect Electric Storm” from
happening, like the Northeast Blackout several summers ago, especially
for people living in the desert?
Governor
Schwarzenegger’s “Million Solar Roofs” program and the passage of
the 2005 Federal Energy Act will be the foundation to create a
“Perfect Solar
Storm” to trigger the Solar Economy throughout California.
With
the threat of California’s seniors and elderly dying from heat
exhaustion due to power outages, black-outs, rolling black-outs and the
rising costs of electricity and natural gas, combined with the
continuing impact of global warming, the perfect solution is to create a
Solar Revolution by cooling, heating and powering the desert with solar
energy and technologies like Solar
Cogeneration or Solar
Trigeneration.
To
find our more about the new
Solar
Trigeneration system
at the Audubon
Center
in Los Angeles, or arrange for a
tour of the Audubon
The Audubon Center's new Solar Trigeneration power and energy
system
makes this building a "Net Zero Energy Building"
The Audubon's Roof showing the Solar
Thermal Collectors,
part of the
Solar Trigeneration power and energy system
The heart of the Audubon's Solar Trigeneration
power and energy
system
provides "free heating, cooling and domestic hot water," a
"net zero energy
building."
The hot water from the Solar Thermal Collectors on the roof of
the Audubon is pumped here for producing the building's heating, cooling
and domestic hot water.
Hot water is stored in the tank on the left for overnight.
|
This solar thermal power plant located in the
This
solar dish engine is an electric generator that "burns"
sunlight instead of gas or coal to produce electricity. The solar
dish engine (above) is a solar "concentrator" and is the primary solar component of the
system. The solar dish engine collects sunlight and
concentrates the sunlight on a small area. A thermal receiver absorbs the
concentrated beam of solar energy, converts it to heat, and
transfers the heat to the engine/generator. The
U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) is actively involved in the
research of Concentrating Solar Power (CSP). This research and development (R&D) focuses on
three types of concentrating solar power
technologies: trough systems, dish/engine systems, and power
towers. These technologies are used in concentrating solar power
plants that use different kinds of mirror configurations to
convert the sun's energy into high-temperature heat. The heat
energy is then used to generate electricity in a steam generator. Concentrating
solar power plant's relatively low cost and ability to deliver
power during periods of peak demand - when and where we need
it - means that concentrating solar power can be a major
contributor to the nation's future needs for distributed sources
of "carbon free energy" and "pollution free
power." DOE's
Solar Energy Technologies Program works in concentrating solar
power R&D to provide clean, reliable, affordable solar
thermal electricity for the nation. The program's goal is to
ensure that solar thermal technologies like concentrating solar
power make an important contribution to the world's growing need
for "carbon free energy" and "pollution free
power." |
Technology
Overview
Concentrating
solar power plants produce electric power by converting the sun's energy
into high-temperature heat using various mirror configurations. The heat
is then channeled through a conventional generator. The plants consist
of two parts: one that collects solar energy and converts it to heat,
and another that converts heat energy to electricity.
Concentrating solar power systems can be sized for village power (10 kilowatts) or grid-connected applications (up to 100 megawatts). Some systems use thermal storage during cloudy periods or at night. Others can be combined with natural gas and the resulting hybrid power plants provide high-value, dispatchable power. These attributes, along with world record solar-to-electric conversion efficiencies, make concentrating solar power an attractive renewable energy option in the Southwest and other sunbelt regions worldwide.
The
Solar Resource
The solar
resource for generating power from concentrating solar power systems is
plentiful. For instance, enough electric power for the entire country
could be generated by covering about 9 percent of Nevada—a plot of
land 100 miles on a side—with parabolic trough systems.
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The solar resources for generating power from concentrating solar power systems is plentiful. For instance, enough electric power for the entire country could be generated by covering about 9 percent of Nevada – a plot of land 100 miles on a side – with parabolic trough systems. |
The amount of power generated by a concentrating solar power plant depends on the amount of direct sunlight. Like concentrating photovoltaic concentrators, these technologies use only direct-beam sunlight, rather than diffuse solar radiation.
The southwestern United States potentially offers the best development opportunity for concentrating solar power technologies in the world. There is a strong correlation between electric power demand and the solar resource due largely to air conditioning loads in the region. In fact, the Solar Electric Generating System plants operate for nearly 100% of the on-peak hours of Southern California Edison.
How
Does It Work?
There are
three kinds of concentrating solar power systems—troughs,
dish/engines, and power towers—that are classified by how they collect
solar energy.
Parabolic
Trough
systems:
The sun's energy is concentrated by parabolic (curved) trough-shaped
reflectors onto a receiver pipe running along the inside of the curved
surface. This energy heats an oil that flows through the pipe. The heat
energy is then pumped to a location where the heat energy is converted
to steam and the stem then generates electricity through one or more
steam turbines.
A collector field comprises many troughs in parallel rows aligned on a north-south axis. This configuration enables the single-axis troughs to track the sun from east to west during the day to ensure that the sun is continuously focused on the receiver pipes. Individual trough systems currently can generate about 80 megawatts of electricity.
Trough designs can incorporate thermal storage - setting aside the heat transfer fluid in its hot phase - allowing for electricity generation several hours into the evening. Currently, all parabolic trough plants are "hybrids," meaning they use fossil fuel to supplement the solar output during periods of low solar radiation. Typically a natural gas-fired heat or a gas steam boiler/reheater is used; troughs also can be integrated with existing coal-fired plants.
Solar
Power Tower systems:
What is a Solar Power Tower and How Does it Work?
A power tower converts sunshine into clean electricity for the world’s
electricity grids. The technology utilizes many large, sun-tracking
mirrors (heliostats) to focus sunlight on a receiver at the top of a
tower. A heat transfer fluid heated in the receiver is used to generate
steam, which, in turn, is used in a conventional turbine-generator to
produce electricity. Early power towers (such as the Solar One plant)
utilized steam as the heat transfer fluid; current designs (including
Solar Two, pictured) utilize molten nitrate salt because of its superior
heat transfer and energy storage capabilities. Individual commercial
plants will be sized to produce anywhere from 50 to 200 MW of
electricity.
Solar power towers offer large-scale, distributed solutions to our
nation’s energy needs, particularly for peaking power. Like all solar
technologies, they are fueled by sunshine and do not release greenhouse
gases. They are unique among solar electric technologies in their
ability to efficiently store solar energy and dispatch electricity to
the grid when needed — even at night or during cloudy weather. A
single 100-megawatt power tower with 12 hours of storage needs only 1000
acres of otherwise non-productive land to supply enough electricity for
50,000 homes. Throughout the sunny Southwest, millions of acres are
available with solar resources that could easily produce solar power at
the scale of hydropower in the Northwest U. S.
What is the Status of Power Tower Technology?
Power towers enjoy the benefits of two successful, large-scale
demonstration plants. The 10-MW Solar One plant near Barstow, CA,
demonstrated the viability of power towers, producing over 38 million
kilowatt-hours of electricity during its operation from 1982 to 1988.
The Solar Two plant was a retrofit of Solar One to demonstrate the
advantages of molten salt for heat transfer and thermal storage.
Utilizing its highly efficient molten-salt energy storage system, Solar
Two successfully demonstrated efficient collection of solar energy and
dispatch of electricity, including the ability to routinely produce
electricity during cloudy weather and at night. In one demonstration, it
delivered power to the grid 24 hours per day for nearly 7 straight days
before cloudy weather interrupted operation.
The successful conclusion of Solar Two sparked worldwide interest in
power towers. As Solar Two completed operations, an international
consortium, led by the U. S. (with
technical support from Sandia National Laboratories), formed to pursue
power tower plants worldwide, especially in Spain (where special solar
premiums make the technology cost-effective), but also in Egypt,
Morocco, and Italy. Their first commercial power tower plant is planned
to be four times the size of Solar Two (about 40 MW equivalent,
utilizing storage to power a 15MW turbine up to 24 hours per day).
This industry is also actively pursuing opportunities to build a similar
plant in our desert Southwest, where a 30 to 50 MW plant would take
advantage of the Spanish design and production capacity to reduce costs,
while providing much needed peaking capacity for the Western grid. The
first such plant would cost in the range of $100M and produce power for
about 15¢/kWh. While still somewhat higher in cost than conventional
technologies in the peaking market, the cost differential could be made
up with modest green power subsidies and political support,
jump-starting this technology on a path to 7¢/kWh power with the
economies of scale and engineering improvements of the first few plants.
It would, at that point, provide clean power as economically as more
conventional technologies.
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The Solar Dish Engine project will evaluate the performance of the “critical” parts of the Stirling engine and develop the next-generation of the 25 kW Solar Dish Engine System. |
Solar
Dish Engine
What
is a Solar Dish-Engine System?
A Solar Dish-Engine System is an electric generator that “burns”
sunlight instead of gas or coal to produce electricity. The major parts
of a system are the solar concentrator and the power conversion unit.
Descriptions of these subsystems and how they operate are presented
below.
The dish, which is more specifically referred to as a concentrator, is the primary solar component of the system. It collects the solar energy coming directly from the sun (the solar energy that causes you to cast a shadow) and concentrates or focuses it on a small area. The resultant solar beam has all of the power of the sunlight hitting the dish but is concentrated in a small area so that it can be more efficiently used. Glass mirrors reflect ~92% of the sunlight that hits them, are relatively inexpensive, can be cleaned, and last a long time in the outdoor environment, making them an excellent choice for the reflective surface of a solar concentrator. The dish structure must track the sun continuously to reflect the beam into the thermal receiver.
The power conversion unit includes the thermal receiver and the engine/generator. The thermal receiver is the interface between the dish and the engine/generator. It absorbs the concentrated beam of solar energy, converts it to heat, and transfers the heat to the engine/generator. A thermal receiver can be a bank of tubes with a cooling fluid, usually hydrogen or helium, which is the heat transfer medium and also the working fluid for an engine. Alternate thermal receivers are heat pipes wherein the boiling and condensing of an intermediate fluid is used to transfer the heat to the engine.
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This Science Application International Corporation/STM Power Inc. 25 kW Dish-Stirling System is operating at a Salt River Project site in Phoenix, AZ. |
The engine/generator system is the subsystem that takes the heat from the thermal receiver and uses it to produce electricity. The most common type of heat engine used in dish-engine systems is the Stirling engine. A Stirling engine uses heat provided from an external source (like the sun) to move pistons and make mechanical power, similar to the internal combustion engine in your car. The mechanical work, in the form of the rotation of the engine’s crankshaft, is used to drive a generator and produce electrical power.
In addition to the Stirling engine, concentrating photovoltaic technologies are also being evaluated as possible future power conversion unit technologies. A photovoltaic conversion system is not actually an engine, but a semi-conductor array, in which the sunlight is directly converted into electricity.
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Small photovoltaic solar dish conversion system. |
What
are the markets for Solar Dish-Engine Systems?
Solar dish-engine systems are being developed for use in emerging global
markets for distributed generation, green power, remote power, and
grid-connected applications. Individual units, ranging in size from 9 to
25 kilowatts, can operate independent of power grids in remote sunny
locations to pump water or to provide electricity for people living in
remote areas. Largely because of their high efficiency and
“conventional” construction, the cost of dish-engine systems is
expected to compete in distributed markets.
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The Advanced Dish Development System is a 10 kW water pumping system. |
Opportunities are emerging for the deployment of dish-engine systems in the Southwest U.S. Many states are adopting green power requirements in the form of “portfolio standards” and renewable energy mandates. While the potential markets in the U.S. are large, the size of developing worldwide markets is immense. The International Energy Agency projects an increased demand for electrical power worldwide more than doubling installed capacity. More than half of this is in developing countries and a large part is in areas with good solar resources, limited fossil fuel supplies, and no power distribution network. The potential payoff for dish-engine system developers is the opening of these immense global markets for the export of power generation systems.
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Experience gained with Solar Two has established a foundation which will lead to the first commercial Concentrating Photovoltaic Power Plant |
Business
and Market Opportunities
With one of the best direct normal insolation resources anywhere on
earth, the southwestern states are poised to reap large and as yet
largely uncaptured economic benefits from this important natural
resource. California, Nevada, Arizona, and New Mexico are each exploring
policies that will nurture the development Concentrated Solar Power
Technologies..
In addition to the concentrating solar power projects under way in this country, a number of projects are being developed in India, Egypt, Morocco, and Mexico. In addition, independent power producers are in the early stages of design and development for potential parabolic trough power projects in Greece (Crete) and Spain. Given successful deployment of one or more of these initial markets, additional project opportunities are expected in these and other regions.
One key competitive advantage of concentrating solar energy systems is their close resemblance to most of the power plants operated by the nation's power industry. Concentrating solar power technologies utilize many of the same technologies and equipment used by conventional central station power plants, simply substituting the concentrated power of the sun for the combustion of fossil fuels to provide the energy for conversion into electricity. This "evolutionary" aspect—as distinguished from "revolutionary" or "disruptive"—results in easy integration into today's central station–based electric utility grid. It also makes concentrating solar power technologies the most cost-effective solar option for the production of large-scale electricity generation.
Analysts predict the opening of specialized niche markets in this country for the solar power industry over the next 5 to 10 years. The U.S. Department of Energy estimates that by 2005 there will be as much as 500 megawatts of concentrating solar power capacity installed worldwide.
What
Does It Cost?
Concentrating
solar power technologies currently offer the lowest-cost solar
electricity for large-scale power generation (10 megawatt-electric and
above). Current technologies cost $2–$3 per watt. This results in a
cost of solar power of 9¢–12¢ per kilowatt-hour. New innovative
hybrid systems that combine large concentrating solar power plants with
conventional natural gas combined cycle or coal plants can reduce costs
to $1.5 per watt and drive the cost of solar power to below 8¢ per
kilowatt hour.
Advancements in the technology and the use of low-cost thermal storage will allow future concentrating solar power plants to operate for more hours during the day and shift solar power generation to evening hours. Future advances are expected to allow solar power to be generated for 4¢–5¢ per kilowatt-hour in the next few decades.
We support the Renewable Energy Institute by donating a portion of our profits to the Renewable Energy Institute in their efforts to reduce fossil fuel use through renewable energy and their goals to end fossil fuel pollution by reducing/eliminating Carbon Emissions, Carbon Dioxide Emissions and Greenhouse Gas Emissions.
The Renewable Energy Institute is "Changing The Way The World Does Energy by Providing Research & Development, Funding and Resources That Creates Sustainable Energy via 'Carbon Free Energy' and 'Pollution Free Power' Through Expanding the use of 'Renewable Energy Technologies'"
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Energy Institute
www.RenewableEnergyInstitute.org
info@RenewableEnergyInstitute.org
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Solar Power
www.ConcentratingSolarPower.com
info@ConcentratingSolarPower.com
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