Huge amounts of American electricity is generated by polluting coal-fired power generating plants. Electric cars and solar cells on private homes are nice, but what technology exists to replace these antiquated workhorses of the electrical grid?
The answer may lie in a new technology that’s already generating power for 380,000 homes in California and sparking a mad rush for venture capital and land. While photovoltaic cells only capture roughly 20% of the sun’s energy, solar thermal technology can capture upwards of 40%. Total costs for solar thermal technology are rapidly approaching the costs for energy produced through fossil fuels (the stated goal of google.org’s renewable energy program), and a large solar thermal plant can produce similar amount of power as a full-sized coal plant.
In a recent article the New York Times counted 10 plants in development in the Southwest, with 17 or more planned around the world:
On sunny afternoons, those 10 [U.S.] plants would produce as much electricity as three nuclear reactors, but they can be built in as little as two years, compared with a decade or longer for a nuclear plant. Some of the new plants will feature systems that allow them to store heat and generate electricity for hours after sunset.
The technology begins with this map, which shows what any visitor already knows: the American southwest is drenched in high intensity sunlight ideal for solar power generation.
FPL Energy employs giant parabolic mirrors to concentrate the sun’s rays onto a liquid-filled pipe, used to drive a large turbine. Stirling Energy uses parabolic mirrors to focus the sun’s rays onto sealed Sterling engines.
Here is the relatively straightforward plan of an FPL-type concentrating solar thermal plant. While this design contains a supplementary natural gas boiler, new plant designs will feature mechanisms to store energy for cloudy periods or evenings.
The phenomenon is global, and a new solar thermal plan recently came online in Australia, and an Abu Dhabi firm has announced plans to aggressively invest in solar thermal technology across the world’s “sun belt,” with the American Southwest a primary target for investment.
While it sounds promising, can the technology produce enough power to drive both our homes and our cars, even at night? One enterprising California power company thinks so, even though Wired magazine is a bit skeptical of the hype. At the very least, short huge new power lines the cloudy Northeast and Northwest may have to look to other sources. As Wired points out, “There’s a long road from a prototype plant in Bakersfield to providing 90 percent of the nation’s electric needs.”
> U.S. Bureau of Land Management Solar Power Program
> NY Times: “Turning Glare Into Watts“
If we can get renewable energy tax credits extended we might have a chance at seeing more of these large scale projects in our country. In the meanwhile those high intensity areas that you mapped out should consider following Spain and Israel’s in requiring every new building to install a solar hot water system on their roof. The how water heaters (for such uses as your morning shower) pay for themselves in less than 5 years and can be made using very basic thermal or advanced PV technology.
While Washington is dragging its feet in extending tax incentives for renewable energy, thankfully many states have lucrative incentives of their own. In California those incentives were critical to securing a deal invovling Pacific Gas & Electric that could bring up to 900mw of solar thermal electricity (CSP) online in teh Mojave Desert. That is enough to power over 500,000 homes!
http://origin.mercurynews.com/greenenergy/ci_8767338
Also,solar hot water heaters can be econmical in most climates – even in DC. So you don’t have to be in sunny CA to get one.
Many renewable techs require lots of R&D. Parabolic Mirrors and Stirling engines(invented 200 years ago), do not. Placement in desert do not require using farmlands, nor carbon sequestering forests, while corn based ethanol does. This is an easily implementable energy source, with little downsides!
We need to move fast, so we can’t afford to make mistakes by implementing techs that don’t have both characteristics.
Kind Att : Sales Department ( )
Dear Sir / Madam,
We have come to know about your company as one of the leading manufacturers of Solar Electric Systems from the internet. It was interesting to note details of your activities and products.
We are pleased to introduce ourself as one of leading trading companies in Pakistan for Textiles and general items. Due to accute shortage of electricity in Pakistan, we have decided to enter into Solar PV / Solar Thermal Electric Systems. Since, we are in touch with leading commercial and industrial units in Pakistan, our market segment will be the same. After our field survey for the potential market, we are confident that huge volume of sales can be achieved for Pakistan market if the price is competitive and product quality is good / backed by professional after sales service.
Our main interest would be in following capacity systems:
a. 25 KVA, 50 KVA, 100 KVA, 200 KVA, 500 KVA. For residential and commercial use.
b. 1 MW, 5 MW, 10 MW, 50 MW, 100 MW and 500 MW. For industrial and Commercial power projects.
Please advise us of your interest in appointment of sole agent in Pakistan region for your products. In case, if you are interested please let us know detailed specs and technical details of products, so that we may move forward . We would appreciate to hear from you regarding warranties, after sales service and spare parts availability.
Look forward to hear from you,
Thanks and Best Regards
Wasim / Amjad Khan
VIGOUR IMPEX
12 T Gulberg II Lahore. Pakistan.
Tel: +92-42-111-844-687
Fax: +92-42-5758662
Mob: +92-301-4419410
E-mail: amjadkhan@vigour-impex.com
http://www.vigour-impex.com
We are dealing in small and large solar panles to produce electricity.
We are situated in karachi.
Saud Alam
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Dear sir,
please quot the capital cost of 25 Kw solar thermal electric generator for residential/institutional use.
sir i need 7kwa to 25kwa solar power system for our commercial use plz snd me full cotation with offordable price
thank u
WE NEED A SOLAR ENERGY OF 200KVA CAPACITY TO POWER A BIG HOTEL.
LET US KNOW YOUR COST PRICE AND THE COST OF EXPORTING THE PRODUCT TO ABUJA, NIGERIA. REPLY, IT’S URGENT
I am working a a project for alternative source of energy.
I would like to know what would be required for us to deploy 250 KVA, 500KVA, 1MW, 5MW solar power system for industrial and residential use in Nigeria.
Thank you
We are working on sterling engines.Please let us know if any want to sell their dead or old sterling engines.
we need to light 50 houses in our village.what is the volume of estimated consumption & what would be the cost involved