[The Vector] Progress in Solar Thermal / CSP (Concentrating Solar Power)

The Vector is pleased to see progress made in the solar thermal / CSP (concentrating solar power) space. We have always believed that solar thermal is the heavy betting favorite to be the ultimate winner in the race for a clean energy technology to replace fossil fuels – at least through the remainder of the 21^st Century.

The US Department of Energy recently provided a loan guarantee that will act as the foundation for Abengoa Solar’s (Gila Bend, Arizona) Solana project — the world’s largest parabolic trough concentrating solar plant. US DoE Secretary Stephen Chu announced the project last month: a 250-megawatt (MW) project — the first large-scale solar plant in the United States capable of storing energy it generates, using large insulated molten salt tanks.

No sooner than the announcement was posted at Renewable Energy World did the detractors start in, deliberately misrepresenting the overall effectiveness of the technology, and referring to the project as a waste of money and the DoE’s “tax and punish” approach to energy innovation. Of the first 25 comments to the post, the vast majority — mostly from one (disingenuous?) source, would have readers believe that solar thermal is outrageously inefficient and expensive.

As we are all aware, even the mature clean energy technologies (PV and wind) are still marginally more expensive than coal in the production of electricity. However, unlike fossil fuels, their cost is falling constantly. And the projected decrease in cost of nascent technologies like solar thermal is projected to be even more dramatic. Last month, Boston Consulting Group Inc. said that the cost of solar thermal power may fall by half over the next decade to become competitive with fossil fuels. Pretty impressive stuff.

The Vector suggests a calm, honest, level-headed approach, and calls for readers to ask themselves how likely it is that the world’s top scientists and profit-making entities are backing a technology that is doomed to be a waste of money.