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#Post#: 324--------------------------------------------------
Concentrated Solar Power (CSP)
DIR By: AGelbert
Date: November 14, 2013, 12:38 am
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CSP (Concentrated Solar Power) runs 24/7 at about 570o C. That
is the SAME temperature range nuclear power plant steam before
it hits the steam turbine. The night time operation is obtained
by storing heat in molten salts that provide the steam to the
turbines until daylight. The steam turbine in the CSP plants is
the same technology as those for nuclear or fossil fuel power
plants WITHOUT radionuclide danger or CO2
pollution.
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/>
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#Post#: 722--------------------------------------------------
Re: Concentrated Solar Power (CSP)
DIR By: AGelbert
Date: January 23, 2014, 2:08 pm
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Latin America Gets Its First Concentrating Solar Plant
SustainableBusiness.com News
Construction on Latin America's first concentrating solar plant
starts this year, and Abengoa won the $1 billion contract.
The 110 megawatt solar tower project with molten salt energy
storage will be built in Chile on the world's driest desert.
Atacama Desert has the highest solar radiation concentration in
the world.
While Abengoa's parabolic concentrating plant in Arizona is
more than twice the size, Solana can only store energy for six
hours. Chili's plant will be able to produce energy without
sunshine for a very impressive 17.5 hours. ;D
"This makes the technology highly manageable, enabling it to
supply electricity in a stable way, 24 hours a day, responding
to all periods of electricity demand," says Abengoa.
The world's largest solar tower plant, Ivanpah, is 377
megawatts and is also in Arizona:
Construction and operation of the project is expected to
catalyze regional socio-economic development, creating a large
number of direct and indirect jobs.
The Chilean Government and European Union are supporting the
project through subsidies in addition to financing from the
Inter-American Development Bank, KFW Kreditanstalt fur
Wiederaufbau, the Clean Technology Fund and Canadian Fund.
Chile's goal is to get 20% of its electricity from renewable
energy by 2025.
Abengoa, the only company that builds and operates solar thermal
(concentrating solar) plants using both tower and parabolic
trough technologies. It has 1.2 gigawatts of installed capacity
worldwide, with another 750 megawatts in the pipeline. Based in
Spain, Abengoa recently also had an IPO in the US (Nasdaq:
ABGB).
Abengoa is also very active in cellulosic biofuels.
HTML http://www.sustainablebusiness.com/index.cfm/go/news.display/id/25460
#Post#: 753--------------------------------------------------
The Sunflower 500 sun concentrator
DIR By: AGelbert
Date: February 6, 2014, 6:46 pm
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HTML http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=toZ1IrlV8ts&feature=player_embedded
#Post#: 894--------------------------------------------------
Re: Concentrated Solar Power (CSP)
DIR By: AGelbert
Date: April 5, 2014, 1:50 pm
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[move]The Solar Technology That Could Solve California’s Water
Problem[/move]
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HTML http://ecowatch.com/2014/03/20/solar-technology-californias-water/
#Post#: 1018--------------------------------------------------
Re: Concentrated Solar Power (CSP)
DIR By: Surly1
Date: May 1, 2014, 5:52 am
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[center]
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#Post#: 1023--------------------------------------------------
Re: Concentrated Solar Power (CSP)
DIR By: AGelbert
Date: May 1, 2014, 3:06 pm
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YES! That's tellin' Em', BRO!
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#Post#: 1317--------------------------------------------------
Re: Concentrated Solar Power (CSP)
DIR By: AGelbert
Date: June 7, 2014, 4:05 pm
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Energy Department Announces Projects to Advance Cost-Effective
Concentrating Solar Power Systems
May 21, 2014 - 12:18pm
The Energy Department today announced $10 million for six new
research and development projects that will advance innovative
concentrating solar power (CSP) technologies. The projects will
develop thermochemical energy storage systems to enable more
efficient storage of solar energy while using less storage
material, cutting the cost for utility-scale CSP electricity
generation as a result. Also today, the Department released a
new report highlighting the progress of five major CSP
deployment projects that are already producing clean, renewable
energy.
“By improving energy storage technologies for concentrating
solar power systems, we can enhance our ability to provide clean
and reliable solar power, even when the sun is not shining,” ;D
said Energy Secretary Ernest Moniz.
Concentrating solar power technologies use mirrors to focus and
concentrate sunlight onto a receiver from which a heat transfer
fluid carries the intense thermal energy to a power block to
generate electricity. The research and development projects
announced today will explore and develop novel thermochemical
energy storage systems, which could store the sun's energy at
high densities and temperatures in the form of chemical bonds.
The chemical compounds used to store the chemical energy are
later broken down to release energy when needed. Six teams from
universities, national laboratories and research institutes,
working with industrial partners, will test different chemical
processes for CSP thermochemical energy storage that could
further advance CSP technology, helping the industry step closer
to meeting the SunShot Initiative’s technical and cost targets
for CSP and moving the U.S. toward its clean energy future.
The Energy Department’s report, “2014: The Year of Concentrating
Solar Power,” focuses on five of the most innovative CSP plants
in the world that, in 2014, are expected to be fully operational
in the southwestern U.S. as a result of sustained, long-term
investments by the Administration and committed solar industry
partners. When completed, these projects will provide a combined
1.26 GW of electricity, nearly quadrupling the preexisting CSP
capacity in the United States with the potential to power more
than 350,000 average American homes. In addition, the five CSP
projects illustrate how loan guarantees provided by the Energy
Department encouraged private market investment and accelerated
the deployment of these technologies at commercial scale.
Broadly, these new Energy Department investments will advance
solar energy technologies—driving down costs to make solar more
affordable. Learn how the SunShot Initiative is working to
develop innovative CSP technologies and make solar energy fully
cost competitive with traditional forms of electricity by the
end of the decade. For more information on the work of the Loan
Programs Office to support the deployment of clean energy
technologies, including CSP, at commercial scale, please visit
HTML http://energy.gov/lpo/loan-programs-office.
HTML http://energy.gov/articles/energy-department-announces-projects-advance-cost-effective-concentrating-solar-power
#Post#: 2592--------------------------------------------------
Re: Concentrated Solar Power (CSP)
DIR By: AGelbert
Date: January 23, 2015, 9:28 pm
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HTML http://ecowatch.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/01/GoSolarStove.jpg
HTML https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nOanqelXK7s&x-yt-cl=84503534&feature=player_embedded
GoSun Portable Stove ($249) Reinvents Solar Cooking
Anastasia Pantsios | January 20, 2015
HTML http://ecowatch.com/2015/01/20/gosun-stove-solar-cooking/
#Post#: 2995--------------------------------------------------
Re: Concentrated Solar Power (CSP)
DIR By: AGelbert
Date: April 18, 2015, 4:01 pm
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[center]
--- Quote ---
> Standby is the high risk position for birds.
--- End Quote ---
[/center]
[center]
Solar Flux Solution Brightens Future of Concentrated Solar Power
[/center]
Susan Kraemer, Correspondent
April 15, 2015 | 13 Comments
HTML http://www.brightsourceenergy.com/stuff/contentmgr/files/0/ef84fdc31e920d36ca6e758ac463ee25/image/_resized/80_630_225_stillings2.jpg
Power tower solar has been under a cloud — in the U.S., anyway —
after 321 birds or bats were killed in the first 6 months of
operation by flying through solar flux above the Ivanpah
Concentrated Solar Power (CSP) plant, the Google-funded colossus
in California’s Mojave desert.
Opponents then greatly exaggerated the numbers, making it a
challenge for California regulators to maintain a level-headed
approach to permitting future power tower projects.
Regulators do have access to the actual facts as an independent
tally and mortality estimate algorithms are typically required
for permitting renewable energy. But battling public opinion,
even if misinformed, takes courage.
Now there is good news coming from SolarReserve. It has been
testing the standby procedures at the Crescent Dunes Solar
Project, a 110-megawatt (MW) power tower CSP plant located in
the Nevada desert near the town of Tonopah.
The first power tower with storage in the U.S. seems to have
solved the problem of avian mortality altogether. However,
Crescent Dunes initially experienced the same issues as Ivanpah,
but just for one day until plant operators cracked the code.
For four or five hours on one day in January, the team focused
3,000 mirrors on one tight donut of air space above the tower
for several hours in standby mode, and a reported 115 birds were
killed. :(
When the mirrors are in standby mode — not aimed at the tower
receiver to make power — they are just aimed at a point in the
sky. Standby is the high risk position for birds. There is a
right way and, now they know, a wrong way to aim them during
standby.
"As soon as we realized this, we halted testing," CEO Kevin
Smith told me this week. "And our engineering team came up with
a correction within a day or two."
No More than Four Suns Anywhere
The solution the SolarReserve engineers devised was to extend
multiple standby points out across a huge "pancake" area
hundreds of meters from the tower "so that no single point in
the sky has a concentration of more than four suns.”
"We’ve seen birds fly in and out of the standby positioning and
there's no harm at all," Smith said.
As of mid-April, SolarReserve had zero bird deaths for three
months since that mid-January day when they discovered the
problem and how to solve it.
Solar flux, or concentrated sunlight that is a measurement of
light energy radiated in a given area, is not heat. It’s effects
matter only when light energy is absorbed by an object that it
hits, which during operation is the receiver at the top of the
tower. Birds recognize the receiver and the tower as a solid
object, so they are unlikely to fly into it.
Only when multiple reflections are not focused on the tower but
instead focused in a concentrated area of clear space, there is
a risk that birds will fly through that space.
However, by focusing no more than four suns at any one standby
point in the sky, the level of solar flux is safer for birds.
“Birds can fly in and out of this zone without injury," said
Smith.
Of course, birds can and do fly into most manmade structures —
cell phone towers, houses, skysc****rs, industrial buildings,
and coal plants and natural gas plants — so the risk of flying
into the tower itself can’t be eliminated.
When Heliostats Are Put in Standby
Like computers, the heliostats are asleep at night — just laying
flat to avoid wind. Each sunrise, they are woken up and pointed
"to a place where we know their exact location" so that when
aimed at the receiver for the day, they are traveling from a
known position.
However, unlike Ivanpah, during normal operation at Crescent
Dunes the heliostats do not need to go into standby after the
initial standby position at sunrise due to energy storage.
"In normal operation the mirrors go into standby position in the
morning and they are only there for few minutes, after which
they are in operation mode and pointed on the receiver all day
long," Smith explained. "During testing, we actually have the
mirrors in standby for several hours. Even though in normal
operation, they’re in standby only for a few minutes at
daybreak."
Storage Removes Need for Standby
With storage, the mirrors remain focused on the receiver all day
because it is beneficial to keep heating the molten salts. Each
cycling through the receiver adds more heat to the molten salts
and all excess heat is stored. So moving mirrors to standby
during the day would actually reduce its selling point — the
dispatchability supplied by storage. So, because it has storage,
Crescent Dunes doesn’t need to go into and out of standby during
normal operation.
Ivanpah’s design is different. It does not have storage, and it
does need to go into standby during the day to protect the
turbine power block, which is run on steam by directly boiling
water in the receiver with the sun’s energy. If clouds pass,
steam can cool to create partial water droplets in the system,
which would damage the turbine that generates the electricity.
To prevent this, the steam turbine is switched off and the
mirrors are put in standby during those lower solar periods
throughout the day.
Ivanpah owners have now also developed a similar algorithm
specific to their system to reduce standby solar flux, and they
also use bird, bat and insect deterrents under the oversight of
the California Energy Commission.
But the SolarReserve answer to reduce the risks to birds now
provides another option to provide clean, safe and reliable
energy, which with storage provides solar power even after the
sun goes down.
Solar tower developers have been working together to solve this
issue once and for all, and SolarReserve’s 4 sun standby
solution has been made available to be used by other power tower
developers.
HTML http://www.renewableenergyworld.com/rea/news/article/2015/04/solar-flux-solution-brightens-future-of-concentrated-solar-power?cmpid=SolarNL-Saturday-April18-2015
HTML http://www.renewableenergyworld.com/rea/news/article/2015/04/solar-flux-solution-brightens-future-of-concentrated-solar-power?cmpid=SolarNL-Saturday-April18-2015
BEST COMMENT! ;D
Brian Donovan
April 17, 2015
John: if you want independent monitoring of animal kills for
solar, and I agree, then we need it for all power plants, all
buildings, all wires, cats, cars, birds....
It may sound like an absurdium argument, but our gov should be
keeping track of [size=14pt][b][color=red]animal deaths from
human activities
HTML http://www.desismileys.com/smileys/desismileys_0293.gif.
Most
govs actually do
HTML http://www.runemasterstudios.com/graemlins/images/2thumbs.gif
.[/b]
We don't know about the CSP numbers,
Fossil-fueled facilities are 17-34 times more dangerous to birds
on a per GWh basis than wind power. Wind turbines may have
killed about 7000 birds, but fossil-fueled stations killed 14.5
million and nuclear 327,000.
HTML http://www.nukefree.org/news/avianmortalityfromwindpower,fossil-fuel,andnuclearelectricity
HTML http://www.nukefree.org/news/avianmortalityfromwindpower,fossil-fuel,andnuclearelectricity<br
/>
HTML http://cleantechnica.com/2013/11/26/wind-farm-bird-deaths-fossil-fuel-nuclear-bird-deaths/
HTML http://cleantechnica.com/2013/11/26/wind-farm-bird-deaths-fossil-fuel-nuclear-bird-deaths/
fossils 34 times wind.
Buildings, power lines and cats are estimated to comprise
approximately 82 percent of the mortality, vehicles 8 percent,
pesticides 7 percent, communication towers 0.5 percent, and wind
turbines 0.003 percent.
HTML http://www.dialight.com/Assets%5CApplication_Notes%5CSignaling%5CObstruction%20Lighting%20Bird%20Strike%20Study.pdf
HTML http://www.dialight.com/Assets%5CApplication_Notes%5CSignaling%5CObstruction%20Lighting%20Bird%20Strike%20Study.pdf<br
/>
Every year the population of birds roughly doubles, then dies
back to about the same as before. The niche for birds is full,
they have to die, The environment cannot sustain more.
HTML http://www.biosci.missouri.edu/avianecology/courses/avianecology/readings/Karr_JR_1990.pdf
HTML http://www.biosci.missouri.edu/avianecology/courses/avianecology/readings/Karr_JR_1990.pdf<br
/> Survival rates are not different than forest with no
civilization.
[/size][/color]
#Post#: 3199--------------------------------------------------
Re: Concentrated Solar Power (CSP)
DIR By: AGelbert
Date: May 23, 2015, 4:07 pm
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Solar Powered Water Desalination Heats Up in Chile
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Solar powered water desalination has the potential to
dramatically increase access to fresh water in many arid
locations. As a solar powered desalination plant opens in Chile
- what are the challenges faced in scaling this technology up to
full commercial operation? And what potential exists globally
for the technology? Andrew Williams investigates.
For thousands of years, people have used the sun's heat to
desalinate water - largely through the use of relatively simple
evaporative processes. So called 'direct' solar distillation
methods have a long history, with evidence that they were used
by ancient Greek mariners and Persian alchemists. Basic solar
stills are still used in many small desalination and
distillation plants. However, while useful at a very small
scale, such methods are of limited use in modern agricultural,
industrial and urban environments.
In recent years, an increasing amount of attention has been paid
to 'indirect' solar desalination using modern solar photovoltaic
technology alongside methods such as reverse osmosis (RO) and
Multiple Effect Distillation (MED), which have the potential to
operate at a much larger scale.
HTML http://www.createaforum.com/gallery/renewablerevolution/3-230515162759.jpeg<br
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Thinking big:
HTML http://www.createaforum.com/gallery/renewablerevolution/3-200714191258.bmp<br
/> IBM's prototype High Concentration PhotoVoltaic Thermal
system
uses a large parabolic dish, constructed from a large array of
mirror facets, which are attached to a sun tracking system.
According to Dr. Corrado Sommariva, managing director of ILF
Consulting Engineers Middle East and president of the
International Desalination Association (IDA), a 'large spectrum'
of technologies could be classified as “solar powered
desalination" - mainly because most traditional state of the art
desalination technologies could in theory be coupled with solar
powered energy sources.
In the past, some initial research efforts have focused on the
viability of solar-thermal powered desalination plants, as well
on how to combine sea water reverse osmosis (SWRO) processes
with solar photovoltaic technology. However, Sommariva argues
that solar powered approaches of this type are 'generally
difficult' to manage alongside traditional desalination
technologies due to their 'very large energy footprint.'
“This is the reason why there is a new interest towards new
technologies that would be able to ensure a lower energy
footprint, as this would also facilitate matching with renewable
energy sources," he says. In this respect, Sommariva believes
that a few technologies are 'particularly interesting,'
including Membrane Distillation and Low Temperature
Distillation, which he says offer 'great potential for coupling
with either solar panels or solar ponds.'
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In contrast to the Chilean Solar Power Desalination Plant -
which converts sunlight into electrical power that is used for
the desalination process - the HCPVT project uses excess heat
energy to desalinate water.
“Multiple Effect Distillation (MED) plants have already been
coupled with solar ponds," he says. “For SWRO or membrane based
technologies, the matching with photovoltaic becomes interesting
when the energy footprint goes below the traditional state of
the art values and when there is a system that is capable of
power import [and] export during the day-night period, as well
as during the peak and off peak periods, so that the overall
energy balance to the grid remains neutral," he says.
Desert Projects
Such potential is now beginning to come to fruition. In an
effort to use the country's sizeable solar energy resource to
assist the local agricultural community, membrane-based
technologies of the type mentioned by Sommariva have recently
been employed in Chile. The demonstration facility, established
in mid-March at the Padre Francisco Napolitano agricultural
school in the Lluta Valley, uses membrane separation technology
to remove salt from water and is wholly powered by an array of
solar photovoltaic panels.
The project was established by the Chilean government-supported
Fundación Chile, via its Climate Change Fund, and backed by
Chile's national Innovation Fund for Competitiveness (FIC).
For many years, farmers in the region, located in the arid Arica
y Parinacota Region of the country, have found it difficult to
manage crop irrigation - largely because access to water is very
low, with any water that is available often being too brackish
for agricultural purposes.
According to the project manager, Carolina Cuevas Gutierrez of
Fundación Chile, although the plant is currently in an
evaluation phase it is already clear that the water generated
from the plant has a decreased salinity and boron content. She
is confident will enable “an increase in quality and diversity
of crops in the region".
In a press statement, Fundación Chile said that the plant is
“simple in its construction and operation" and costs only
US$210,000 (CLP 100 million) to build.
Over the coming months the plant's operations will be closely
monitored. A market study and business model will be created -
with the ultimate aim being to commercialise the technology for
use at other locations across northern Chile.
“The benefit lies not only in the new water technology, but also
the low energy consumption," Gutierrez. “As we know, energy
represents the biggest cost in any technology. Using today's
solar technology, we can produce excellent quality water, and
the next step is to apply this to further agricultural
production."
Prof. André Bernard, head of the Institute for Micro- and
Nanotechnology (MNT) at the Interstate University of Applied
Sciences Buchs (NTB) in Switzerland, adds: “This is good news.
Clean drinking water is a very precious good – and all efforts
to produce it where needed is key to a self-supporting
micro-economy."
Elsewhere, an IDA and ILF-led energy task force is also
supporting a MASDAR initiative, which aims to install up to five
pilot solar-powered desalination plants in the Emirates of Abu
Dhabi. The plan is for these facilities to use the type of new
desalination technologies that Sommariva describes as having a
low energy footprint, and which he is confident can therefore
'be easily matched with renewable energy sources.'
“Among various renewable sources, we are contemplating mainly
solar and geothermal. Recently a MED plant driven by an enhanced
solar pond has been commissioned in Fujairah. Saudi Arabia has
[also] launched a massive program for renewable driven
desalination in the Al Khafji area," he says. “In general there
are very interesting movements that hopefully will drive the new
generation of low energy desalination plant(s)," he adds.
HTML http://www.createaforum.com/gallery/renewablerevolution/3-230515162946.jpeg<br
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In the IBM HCPVT system, instead of heating a building, the
produced 90o Celsius water will be used to heat salty water that
is passed through a porous membrane distillation system where it
is vaporized and desalinated.
IBM Research
In another development, IBM Research is currently heading up a
research project investigating the use of heat from a
concentrated photovoltaic (CPV) system to drive a membrane
distillation (MD) desalination process.
The prototype High Concentration PhotoVoltaic Thermal (HCPVT)
system uses a large parabolic dish, constructed from a large
array of mirror facets, which are attached to a sun tracking
system. This tracking system positions the dish at the optimum
angle to capture solar radiation, which then reflects off the
mirrors onto several microchannel-liquid cooled receivers with
triple junction photovoltaic chips. To capture the medium grade
heat IBM scientists and engineers have made use of technology
initially developed for water-cooled high performance computers.
Here water is used to absorb heat from the processor chips,
which is then used to provide space heating for IBM facilities.
In the HCPVT system, instead of heating a building, the 90°
Celsius water will be used to heat salty water that is passed
through a porous membrane distillation system where it is
vaporized and desalinated. IBM estimates that such a system
could provide 30-40 litres of drinkable water per square meter
of receiver area per day, while still generating electricity
with a more than 25% yield, or two kilowatt hours per day.
According to Bruno Michel, manager - Advanced Thermal Packaging
at IBM Research, the reason for choosing a HCPVT system is that
it provides 80-90° C waste heat - a temperature level which
matches exactly 'with the required temperature for an optimal
yield of an MD system.'
“Water evaporates at reduced pressure through the pores of a
membrane, like the well known GoreTex membrane, that allows
steam to pass but not water," says Michel. “The steam then
condenses on a condensation foil that transfers the heat to the
next effect. This multi-effect approach maximizes the yield for
the distillation process," he adds.
IBM's partners, Airlight Energy, will develop this part of the
system using low cost concrete and simple pressurized metalized
plastic foils - with ETH Zurich assuming responsibility for the
development of the solar concentrating optics. Under the
auspices of the project, prototype HCPVT systems will be built
in Zurich, Biasca and Rueschlikon over the next 36 months.
“The water desalination is already being prototyped here at the
lab in Rueschlikon using a small photovoltaic dish we have on
the roof," says Michel. Meanwhile, Bernard is keen to stress
that, in contrast to the Chilean Solar Power Desalination Plant
- which converts sunlight into electrical power that is used for
the desalination process - the HCPVT project uses excess heat
energy to desalinate water.
“The IBM-Airlight HCPVT-system will, however, employ larger area
solar collectors and concentrators that are less suitable for
small-scale plants that fit into a 'private garden,'" he says.
The Scale Up Challenge
Although projects of the type outlined here show a great deal of
promise, a number of hurdles must still be overcome before the
various types of solar powered desalination technology can reach
large-scale commercialisation. For Sommariva, the main problem
encountered so far relates to “bridging the gap between research
and development and commercialisation of these concepts". In his
view, the main challenge is that these concepts need time and
operational feedback before they will be able to compete with
state of the art technology “in terms of robustness, reliability
and maintainability".
HTML http://www.createaforum.com/gallery/renewablerevolution/3-230515162906.jpeg<br
/>
Transparent technology: the Lluta Valley project uses membrane
separation technology to remove salt from the water, all powered
by solar photovoltaic panels
“Ultimately the bankability of these concepts becomes
problematic. An important step ahead is [to undertake] a
continuous and rigorous piloting program which is aimed at
commercialisation," he says.
However, to ensure that these concepts are 'induced adequately'
in the market, Sommariva also argues that the first attempts at
commercialisation need to be made within an 'initially
restricted market' where renewable desalination projects of this
type 'can compete in a restricted arena without being forced to
compete with the large IWP-IWPP projects involving traditional
technologies.'
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The US$210,000 plant will be monitored over the coming months
with aim to fully commercialise the technology across other
locations in Northern Chile
“In this way, the premises for technology development and
industrial implementation based on purely commercial criteria
can be created," he says.
Michel adds that the main challenges for technologies of the
type developed in the HCPVT project are maturization and cost -
and he stresses that the technology is new and “needs to catch
up with established technologies".
“Despite the fast track development we have to pay attention to
select low-cost components," he says. “The selected
technologies, micro-channel cooled multichip receivers and
inflated optics with injection moulded concrete elements are our
winning bets to overcome the challenges," he says.
HTML http://www.createaforum.com/gallery/renewablerevolution/3-230515163017.jpeg<br
/>
IBM's partners, Airlight Energy, will develop part of the system
using low cost concrete and simple pressurized metalized plastic
foils - with ETH Zurich assuming responsibility for the
development of the solar concentrating optics.
Meanwhile, Nicolas Zäch, project leader for the HCPVT System
project at NTB, believes that an important factor in the ongoing
commercial viability of plants such as those established in
Chile is the availability of cost-efficient solar cells, along
with smart low-cost tracking systems. “Another aspect is an
energy-conservative desalination process that can be driven
using the solar power. Knowing the energy needed for the desired
desalination output helps to configure the solar cells correctly
and finding the appropriate PV technology," he says.
Future Prospects
Looking ahead, Sommariva hopes that indirect solar powered
desalination will become increasingly viable “all over the
world". However, he points out that in locations such as the
Middle East energy costs are still often 'unrealistic' - a
situation which he argues 'clearly does not help in driving
desalination towards efficiency or towards renewable solutions.'
“This will change in the future as the cost of water will be
more and more dependent on the cost of energy," he says. Michel
also envisions the HCPVT system providing sustainable energy and
potable water to locations around the world, including southern
Europe, Africa, the Arabian peninsula, the south-western part of
the United States, South America and Australia. He points out
that remote tourism locations are also an 'interesting market,'
particularly resorts on small islands, such as the Maldives,
Seychelles and Mauritius, “since conventional systems require
separate units, with consequent loss in efficiency and increased
cost".
In the long run, Bernard is confident that the prospect of
becoming independent from global clean water suppliers 'will
help poorer regions to develop and prosper quicker' and at the
same time 'increase their knowledge in technology.'
“This is important for a region and a country in general. But of
course solar-driven desalination is not the golden egg for all
regions, since it dependent on high insolation
HTML http://dl3.glitter-graphics.net/pub/465/465823jzy0y15obs.gif,"<br
/>he says.
Author's note: Andrew Williams is a freelance correspondent for
WWi magazine. For more information, email: tomf@pennwell.com.
HTML http://www.waterworld.com/articles/wwi/print/volume-28/issue-3/regional-spotlight-latin-america/solar-powered-water-desalination-heats.html
Agelbert NOTE: With this fossil fuel FREE technology, Countries
like Namibia and Egypt, along with any country with large desert
areas next to the ocean (with high insolation) could be greened,
as well as enjoy a huge GDP boost
HTML http://www.smilies.4-user.de/include/Spiele/smilie_game_017.gif<br
/>from selling sea salt, a product in demand worldwide.
HTML http://dl3.glitter-graphics.net/pub/465/465823jzy0y15obs.gif
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