eSolar power tower plant unveiled

07 August 2009

The full-scale solar thermal power tower plant will produce electricity for utility Southern California Edison (SCE), and could power more than 4,000 homes in California's Antelope Valley.

Comments

hussainaa said

15 August 2009
Research, technological development and demonstration of a new generation of renewable energy technologies has an essential role to play in meeting growing energy demand and to allow Concentrating Solar Power (CSP) technologies make a significant contribution to developing a more sustainable energy system. This is especially so in areas which receive a high level of solar radiation. The main concepts used in CSP technologies are parabolic troughs and solar towers systems, which vary according to the concentration devices, energy conversion methods, and storage options. Solar power towers are estimated to reach slightly higher efficiencies. The inherent advantage of CSP technologies is their unique adaptability to conventional thermal plants, as it can be integrated as "a solar burner" in parallel to a fossil burner into conventional thermal cycles. Also, with thermal storage or fossil fuel backup, solar thermal plants can provide firm capacity without the need of separate backup power plants and without stochastic perturbations of the grid. CSP plants play the major role in the long-term energy supply, because with their capability of thermal energy storage and of solar/fossil hybrid operation they can provide reliable capacity and thus are a key element for grid stabilization and power security in such a well-balanced electricity mix.

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