Solar Thermal
Gordon Hutchinson describes the photo here:
A new solar energy system just went online — and it’s set to redefine how the world generates power.
This system isn’t just a revolution in solar power. It’s transforming energy as we know it.
The Crescent Dunes Solar Energy Project is the first commercial concentrated solar power plant that uses molten salt energy storage to provide energy day and night.
The project includes 10,347 panels that collect and focus the sun’s thermal energy to heat molten salt to over 1,000 F. The molten salt circulates around a central tower and then is sent to a storage tank, where it is used to produce steam and generate electricity.
Excess thermal energy is stored in the molten salt and can be used to generate power during the evening hours and when direct sunlight is not available. As such, the system eliminated the need for any backup fossil fuels.
Melting the 70,000,000 pounds (32,000,000 kg) of salt took two months. Once melted, the salt stays melted for the life of the plant and is cycled through the receiver for reheating.
When 2GreenEnergy was launched in 2009, the concept of solar thermal held great promise. For better or worse, however, the cost per Watt of solar PV, as well as the scaling of wind energy, has rendered the levelized cost of solar thermal energy completely noncompetitive.
Either Gordon wrote this well over a decade ago, or he’s fibbing.
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