Improved and redesigned solar power collection dishes that promise to be cheaper and easier to manufacture have been unveiled by Stirling Energy Systems (SES) and Tessera Solar.
Concentrating solar-thermal power systems are one of the most efficient – last year one of the original design SunCatchers™ set a new solar-to-grid system conversion efficiency record of 31.25% net efficiency.
The new design, which has been developed in collaboration with engineers at Sandia National Laboratories’ National Solar Thermal Test Facility (NSTTF), will be ready to be deployed on a commercial scale next year.
“The four new dishes are the next-generation model of the original SunCatcher system,” explains Sandia engineer Chuck Andraka, who has been working with SES on the new design. “Every part of the new system has been upgraded to allow for a high rate of production and cost reduction.”
The concentrating solar-thermal power (CSP) SunCatcher consists of 40 mirrors in a parabolic dish, which focus the sun’s rays into a receiver. This receiver transmits the heat to a Stirling engine – a sealed system filled with hydrogen. As the hydrogen heats and cools its pressure changes, driving a piston that in turn drives a generator to produce electricity.
The new design is simpler, lighter, uses less steel and has improved optics. Crucially, the curved mirrors are formed using car manufacturing technique, which promises to make high-volume production cheaper and easier.
“By utilizing the automotive supply chain to manufacture the SunCatcher, we’re leveraging the talents of an industry that has refined high-volume production through an assembly line process,” says SES CEO Steve Cowman.
The redesigned SunCatcher also has the lowest water use of any thermal electric generating technology, says Cowman, and produces no greenhouse gas emissions during conversion.
Tessera Solar plan to build a 60-unit, 1.5 MW plant using the new design in either Arizona or California by the end of the year.
There are also plans to deploy the SunCatcher technology in two other solar generating plants in southern California – San Diego Gas & Electric’s installation in the Imperial Valley and Southern California Edison’s Mojave Desert plant. Together with CPS Energy’s project in western Texas, SunCatchers could be generating 1000 MW by the end of 2012.
For further information:
www.sandia.gov/
www.stirlingenergy.com/
www.tesserasolar.com/
www.sdge.com/
www.sce.com/
www.cpsenergy.com/
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