Solar Power
It’s coming of age
CSP (Concentrated Solar Power)
There are two types:
Parabolic Troughs and
“Power Towers”
Parabolic Troughs
• Linear parabolic mirrors focusing light on a tube
– Very efficient (60%) utilize salt heated to 1000 degrees
– Insulated storage for salt
– Then boil water, steam turns turbine, turbine turns generator.
Voila! 24 hour solar electricity
also
– Most have a natural gas boiler integrated into loop, so plant
has full production 24 hours/day
Parabolic Trough
Another way to view a parabolic trough
Solar Trough “farms” in the US
“Solar One” Parabolic Trough in Nevada
64 MW; 400 acres; (15,000 homes)
Nevada Solar One Schematic Diagram
Abengoa Solar Troughs Gila Bend AZ
280 MW CSP, the largest in the world
(70,000 homes supplied—covers 1900
acres), and a second 280 MW plant under
construction near Barstow, CA (54,000
homes). On line 2014.
Greentech Media
for the latest in . . .well, greentech
and from National Renewable Energy
Lab—Thermal Storage
And the California ISO website shows
demand and renewable output.
Solar One “Power Tower” in Barstow California
The original solar power tower located in Barstow, California, and
completed in 1981. The Solar One had a design capacity of 10,000 peak
kilowatts, and was composed of a receiver located on the top of a tower
surrounded by a field of reflectors. The concentrated sunlight created
steam to drive a steam turbine and electric generator located on the
ground.
PS-10 Power Tower in Spain
• Mirrors focus sunlight onto a small area at top
of 300 foot tall tower.
– Utilize liquid sodium as a fluid to collect and
transport heat to boil water, steam turns turbine,
turbine turns generator.
– Power 65,000 homes
Integral is Sevilla PV, an integrated photovoltaic
array that will power 1800 homes
The PS 10, 11MW Heliostat Tower in Spain”
Hallelujah!
Ivanpah Power Tower—eastern California. First circle is nearing
completion. 4000 acres. Towers 500 feet tall. 170,000 heliostats
(mirrors)
390 MW Equals 140,000 + homes
$50 million to relocate endangered desert tortoises.
There are desert ecosystems--no free lunches
But . . . Let’s not forget Photovoltaic—
(Sunlight directly into electricity)
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Western PV panel makers driven out of business by Chinese
But, cheap panels make installation cheaper
Installation companies go crazy
Big investors see good opportunities
Solar City stock rises 200% in 2013
– Solar City model. Install homeowner PV systems for free, then take a
portion of output to pay for systems.
PV still less than 1% of US power output, but increased 76% in 2012
bypassing wind for first time.
Solnova PV (Spain) in foreground=150 MW
background PS-10 & PS-20 Power Towers
Agua Caliente Solar Project-Mojave Desert
California. 290MW
Geothermal Energy
• Most common utilizes very hot water or
steam. “The Geysers” in California.
• About 30 square miles active site.
• About 1000 MW continual output.
Dry Steam and Flash Steam
Requires very hot water/steam (The Geysers Model)
Enhanced Geothermal Systems:
Got Hot Rocks?
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AltaRock Energy Inc. at Newberry Volcano near Bend.
Drill one hole into hot (600 degrees F) dry rock
Fracture rock by injecting cold water
Drill more holes about 1500 feet away
Pump water down original hole and out secondary
holes. Convert to steam and use flash (direct) or
heat exchanger/binary systems to drive steam
turbine and generate electricity.
• Successful test January 2013.
Enhanced Geothermal System
Utilizing Hot, Dry Bedrock
Binary System
Utilizes a secondary closed loop of low boiling point substance to drive the
turbine (Probable EGS model—low water consumption.
U.S. Geothermal
Neal Hot Springs—Harney County
Binary System
• Utilizes hot water to boil secondary fluid
in a heat exchanger.
• 23 MW Energy (perhaps enough for
26,000 homes)
• $136 million cost
Ground/Water Source Heat Pump
Home Heating and Cooling
Benefits
• 50% - 70% more efficient than fossil fuel
systems
• 25% - 50% less operating cost
Drawbacks
• Costs “Several Times” more than other
heating/cooling systems
• Not many installers or repair/adjustment
companies yet
Ocean Thermal Energy Conversion (OTEC)
• As Near as I can tell there are no operating systems utilizing
the temperature differences in the ocean. In theory and in
demos it works, but the costs are so high that nobody has yet
invested in a commercial scale site.
In theory it is simple; in practice it is wildly expensive
Water Turbines
(like wind turbines but tiny in comparison)
• Water is 784 times more dense than air = 784 times
more energy per unit area of moving water.
• Dependable—tide goes in and out on a regular basis.
Rivers flow at a dependable rate
• Widespread possibilities.
• In reality, still in test mode—production costs still
very speculative.
Tidal Turbine
Marine Current Turbine
World’s First Commercial Scale Tidal Turbine (Strangford Lough, N. Ireland)
1.2 MW capability (1000 homes)
Alstom Tidal Turbine—Orkney Scotland
1 MW in tests (2013)
Christian Science Monitor articicle
“Tidal turbines: New sparks of hope
for green energy from beneath
the waves”
Ocean Renewable Power Company
This thing sits on the bottom of a river or bay. It’s a
demo and produces 150 kw of electricity as tide goes in
and out.
Tidal Barrage System
Advantage is that this one can function as a “battery”
saving impounded water to generate electricity later
La Rance Tidal Barrage in France-Built 1966
240MW plant 26% efficient = 62 MW output
Sihwa Tidal Barrage, Korea, 2011
256 KW, so a bit bigger than La Rance
Above the Surface
• Lots of Experimenting, no commercial
examples yet—at least none that I know of,
but here are some of the ideas.
Ocean Power Technology; PB150 Powerbuoy
Exists. Potential =150 KW; output 36%= 54 KW
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Lots of Ideas
Floats ride the waves moving piston up and
down inside a magnet to make electricity
Columbia Power “Stingray”
OSU developed—makes no sense to me!
Pelamis Wave Energy Converter
OR Loch Ness Monster!
750 KW per monster. No commercial “farms” yet
Utilizing flowing air to turn turbine
“Enernet” or “Cleanweb” or “Soft Grid”
• Definition: Internet-enabled efficiency
– A. Digital Lumens Company utilizes LED lights;
motion sensors; ambient light sensors; data;
internet technologies. Reduce energy
consumption by 90% or more.
“Enernet” or “Cleanweb” or “Soft Grid”
• Definition: Internet-enabled efficiency
– A. Digital Lumens Company utilizes LED lights; motion sensors;
ambient light sensors; data; internet technologies. Reduce energy
consumption by 90% or more.
– B. Opower Company provides digital
consumption alerts via smart phones, iPad apps,
smart thermostats to make consumers aware of
their energy use but also their neighbor’s use
(anonymously). 85 unilities, 27 countries, 18
million homes.
“Enernet” or “Cleanweb” or “Soft Grid”
• Definition: Internet-enabled efficiency
– A. Digital Lumens Company utilizes LED lights; motion sensors;
ambient light sensors; data; internet technologies. Reduce energy
consumption by 90% or more.
– B. Opower Company provides digital consumption alerts via smart
phones, iPad apps, smart thermostats to make consumers aware of
their energy use but also their neighbor’s use (anonymously). 85
unilities, 27 countries, 18 million homes.
– C. EnerNOC Company works with 14,000
customers in five states. When a utility nears
capacity, contacts customers, who then reduce
consumption for a fee. Can curtail 30-35%
“Enernet” or “Cleanweb” or “Soft Grid”
• Definition: Internet-enabled efficiency
– C. EnerNOC Company works with 14,000 customers in five states.
When a utility nears capacity, contacts customers, who then reduce
consumption for a fee. Can curtail 30-35%
– D. Nest Labs Company sells thermostats that
“learn” a house energy needs, and begins to set
itself. “At its core it is a smart phone on your wall.”
It is internet connected, so can be controlled
remotely. It also allows devices in home to
communicate with each other via internet—like
CO2 detector “talking” with furnace.
Google!!!!!
• And Google is buying ‘em all. It is a great data
collection resource, then that data can be
used for . . . . .