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Posted by pokhara67 on June 29, 2007, 1:58 pm
I just saw a video on youtube about the SOLUCAR Solar Tower in Spain.
It can produce 11 MW !!!
What does this mean for the future of PV ?
In case you havent watched the video the Solar Tower uses a
conventional turbine powered by heat generated from thousands of large
mirrors.
Posted by Brian Kemp on June 30, 2007, 2:28 pm
David,
Great video, I'm very impressed. The quicker they put these in the Sahara
the desert, the better!
Brian.
www.basildon.tv
>-> I just saw a video on youtube about the SOLUCAR Solar Tower in Spain. > -> It can produce 11 MW !!! > -> What does this mean for the future of PV ? > -> In case you havent watched the video the Solar Tower uses a > -> conventional turbine powered by heat generated from thousands of large > -> mirrors. > Yes. I've seen this thing on TV. I have also visited south-eastern > Spain, where it is located. The area is almost an extension of the > Sahara Desert - extremely dry, with clear skies almost all the time. Of > course this makes it ideal for this kind of solar installation. > For large-scale power generation, I suspect that solar-thermal > technologies will dominate, especially in desert climates, where > sunlight can be easily focussed onto a boiler. For small-scale > operations, and in places where daylight is usually diffuse, PV is > better suited. > dow
Posted by Randy on July 5, 2007, 11:10 pm
>-> Great video, I'm very impressed. The quicker they put these in the >Sahara > -> the desert, the better! > -> Brian. > -> www.basildon.tv > But who is going to use electricity that is produced in the Sahara? > Very long transmission lines would have to be constructed, which always > cause losses, and which would be obvious targets for Sahara-natives > with bombs. The whole system would have to be made resistant to > sandstorms, which cause horrible damage to delicate surfaces such as > those of mirrors. Maintaining it would be very costly, so the > electricity would be far from free. > I can see that some other desert areas, such as those in the > south-western United States, might be suitable sites. They are fairly > close to population centres, and are in politically stable > environments. I don't think sandstorms happen there, at least, not big > ones. But I'm very sceptical about the Sahara, except maybe a few > limited parts of it. > dow
Greetings
I spent a week in Mounument Valley Utah/ New Mexico and was hit by a sand
storm. It didn't do much damage to the van mirrors though. It might take a
few storms to get real damage.
Perhaps they could turn the mirrors in alignment with the wind to minimize
damage.
The local tribe did have some issues with power lines though.
They got way behind on the bills, local power company cut off thier power so
the locals started tearing out power poles and erecting buildings with them.
So the power company tore out the rest of the lines and wont put them back
unless a customer pays for it.
Off the resevation though I think things are more politically quiet.
I understand there are some good sized P.V. systems there and work very
well.
But the home I was visiting had no electricity (any more) so they dried
thier meats and ate fry bread and canned foods and got along fine without
electricity. They had propane but could not afford a propane fridge.
They were fortunate to be connected to a reservation owned well 100 feet
from thier home so water was not a problem.
Imagine a fire hydrant out in the middle of the desert next to the highway.
Randy
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> -> It can produce 11 MW !!!
> -> What does this mean for the future of PV ?
> -> In case you havent watched the video the Solar Tower uses a
> -> conventional turbine powered by heat generated from thousands of large
> -> mirrors.
> Yes. I've seen this thing on TV. I have also visited south-eastern
> Spain, where it is located. The area is almost an extension of the
> Sahara Desert - extremely dry, with clear skies almost all the time. Of
> course this makes it ideal for this kind of solar installation.
> For large-scale power generation, I suspect that solar-thermal
> technologies will dominate, especially in desert climates, where
> sunlight can be easily focussed onto a boiler. For small-scale
> operations, and in places where daylight is usually diffuse, PV is
> better suited.
> dow