CSP (Concentrated Solar Power) Is this finally the “real” future of renewables:

Focused Solar Focused Solar comes in a variety of options; – Parabolic Trough Linear parabolic mirrors focusing light on a tube – Very efficient (60%) utilize salt heated to 1000 degrees – Insulated storage for salt – Then boil water, steam turns turbine, turbine turns generator. Voila! 24 hour solar electricity

Parabolic Trough

Another way to view a parabolic trough

Solar Trough “farms” in the USfarms

Nevada Solar One CSPSolar

Nevada Solar One Schematic Diagram

AbengoaAbengoa Solar Two 280 MW CSP with six hours of thermal storage under construction. One Gila Bend, AZ (70,000 homes), the other near Barstow, CA (54,000 homes)

Greentech Media for the latest in...well, greentech and from National Renewable Energy Lab—Thermal StorageMediaLab—Thermal

Then there is the “Solar Power Tower” 625 solar panels focus sunlight onto a small area at top of 300 foot tall tower. – Utilize liquid sodium as a fluid to collect and transport heat to generate electricity – Power 65,000 homes Integral is Sevilla PV, an integrated photovoltaic array that will power 1800 homes

The PS 10, 11MW Heliostat Tower is Spain”

Solar One “Power Tower” in Barstow California A solar power tower located in Barstow, California, and completed in The Solar One had a design capacity of 10,000 peak kilowatts, and was composed of a receiver located on the top of a tower surrounded by a field of reflectors. The concentrated sunlight created steam to drive a steam turbine and electric generator located on the ground.power tower

Concentrating Solar with Sterling Engines Sterling Energy Systems has since gone bankrupt, due to the dramatic lowering cost of Photovoltaic (Sunlight directly to electricity). At this point only demo sites of this technology exist.

Geothermal Energy “Hot Rock” System This is the design for the Newberry Geothermal site SE of Bend at Newberry Crater/Paulina Lake area. It is very experimental and they have over $30 million Invested so far. OPBOPB story on this project.

Dry Steam and Flash Steam Requires very hot water/steam

Binary System Utilizes a secondary closed loop of low boiling point substance to drive the turbine

U.S. Geothermal Neal Hot Springs—Harney County Binary System 23 MW Energy (perhaps enough for 26,000 homes) $136 million cost Presold the energy for 11.8 cents/kwh On-line late 2012

Ground/Water Source Heat Pump Heating and Cooling for individual residences

Benefits 50% - 70% more efficient than fossil fuel systems 25% - 50% less operating cost

Drawbacks Costs “Several Times” more than other heating/cooling systems--$70,000 for one single family installation that I read about. Not many installers or repair/adjustment companies yet

Ocean Thermal Energy Conversion As Near as I can tell there are no operating systems utilizing the temperature differences in the ocean. In theory and in demos it works, but the costs are so high that nobody has yet invested in a commercial scale site. This system requires temperature differences of 20 degrees C (36 degrees F) between ocean thermal zones to function.

Water Turbines as an Energy Source Benefits 784 times more dense than air Dependable—Tide goes in and out on a regular basis. Rivers flow at a dependable rate Drawbacks REALLY hostile environment to mechanical things Marine life disruption potential great

Tidal Turbine

Marine Current Turbine World’s First Commercial Scale Tidal Turbine (Strangford Lough, N. Ireland) 1.2 MW capability (1000 houses)

Another Example-Artist’s Rendition

Tidal Barrage System Advantage is that this one can function as a Grid Storage system saving impounded water and letting it out at low tide

Murdoch University Tidal Barrage and Tidal Turbinesand Christian Science Monitor ArticleScience “Tidal turbines: New sparks of hope for green energy from beneath the waves”

On the sea surface Lots of Experimenting, no commercial examples yet—at least none that I know of, but here are some of the ideas. The sea is a really hostile environment to work in, both chemically and mechanically. Ask any ocean fisherman.

Lots of Ideas

Our Very Own!

Pelamis Wave Energy Converter OR Loch Ness Monster! 30 of these might power 20,000 homes

Utilizing flowing air to turn turbine

Different Version of OSU Model