This solar thermal plant in spain reflects the sun on to a tower to generate steam and drive huge turbines to make enormous amounts of electricity.
Last week we took a look at the rare event of Resources Minister Martin Ferguson putting his hand in his pocket to support a solar power initiative. While the sight of old “Fossil Fuel” Ferguson supporting a renewable energy project after accusations of mismanagement and bias in favour of fossil fuel industries was immense, this week we’d like to concentrate on some of the technology behind the projects.
According to a 20th December Flinders University press release, nanotechnology is going to play a key role in the development of the country “… into a global solar energy powerhouse”. This will be done as part of an effort by the Australian Solar Thermal Research Initiative (ASTRI) — Fergie’s baby — to cut the cost of concentrated solar power from 25 cents to 9-12 cents a kilowatt hour.
If successful this would be a major breakthrough but what’s all this “concentrated thermal solar” business I hear you ask?
Flinders University Centre for NanoScale Science and Technology Director, Professor David Lewis explains:
“In one form of concentrated solar thermal power generation, large-scale mirrors are used to concentrate the sun’s energy to heat fluid inside a pipe which subsequently transfers that heat into an electrical power generator to create electricity,” Professor Lewis said in the Flinders’ press release.
“To get the most out of solar energy the facility is typically built in cloud-free regions but then maintenance costs become an issue due to having to clean dust from the surface of the mirrors, so we’ll be working on new coatings to prevent the dust build-up in the first place,” he added.
“We’ll also be focusing on making low-cost, lightweight mirrors, fluids and anti-corrosion coatings that can withstand higher temperatures to improve the efficiency of the system and further reduce maintenance costs.”
To listen to Mark Twidell, outgoing head of the Australian Solar Institute, concentrated solar thermal power generation (already a fixture in similar sun-blessed countries such as Spain) has an enormous future in Australia. In an interview with RenewEconomy Twidell said concentrated solar and solar PV were “complementary technologies” and should be funded accordingly.
However up till now he believed funding for concentrated solar had been “slow”.
Will Fergie’s early Christmas present and the Flinders University team injection start the ball rolling for concentrated solar? Is solar thermal power the future for large scale solar projects in Australia? Certainly we seem to have the necessary prerequisites: sun, space, advanced technology. Do we have the political will to continue to back the technology though? We’d like to hear your opinion either here or over at our Facebook Page.
Finally, we’d also like to wish our readers a very happy and safe Christmas from all of us at SolarQuotes HQ.
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Until you come up with a storage solution, solar will continue to be a fantasy and a plaything for politicians
The system on my roof generating a return 4-5 times better than my super account would beg to differ George!
George, we produce 2.5 times as much as we produce with our 5.5kW PV system.
Do you call that result “a fantasy and a plaything for politicians”?
Get Real! If you don’t have to say a thing then please don’t write bullshit.
It still doesn’t solve the problem of night time use. Need to combine it with hydrogen extraction to run night time diesels
The last 10 – 15% of electrical distribution capacity is only used for 24 hours per year!!!! That’s on the hot days when everyone is using air-conditioning. The peaking of solar helps resolve a huge cost increase caused by whole electrical grids and stations being upgraded for only a few hours use each year.
We could easily reduce coal powered electrical generation to off peak loads and use many variety’s of renewable sources for peak with gas for any remainder.
The strong goverment backed introduction of renewable power generation will simply allow the industry to adjust to the new player. A market will create itself.Tech will improve and costs reduced Australia’s technology is constantly being sold overseas to more forward thinking biz/gov when we could be the global leader.
note. Peak power can cost power companies $10000+ per gwh. Power biding for like a very complex eBay. Solar has a place, This is not good news for massive coal, gas, mining companies who have influence and money on government, media and research. Keep that in mind when reading the paper, tv, or listening to people debating this topic. Make an informed decision after checking their actual research or check who paid for the research.
If a home user can nearly make it cost effective under 10 years. Surely a large organisation do it better and make a profit.