Solar Two has around 20% efficiency
You need to go to the edge of the tropics (desert regions) to get much sun.
Aaron wrote:Solar Two has around 20% efficiency
It's not that these techniques are bad per se...
But comparing them to conventional hydrocarbons is like pissin in the Grand Canyon.
1:1.2
vs
1:50
Not hard to understand now huh?
It's also worth noting that cheap hydrocarbon power is part of the efficiency calculation for this technology. As oil becomes more expensive, this will degrade the efficiency lower than it's anemic 20% projection.
EnergySpin wrote:You need to go to the edge of the tropics (desert regions) to get much sun.
Hi devil, since you know more about that stuff than we do, any chances of using solar space based generators beeming microwave down the Sahara?
It seems we can get the stuff in space, and connecting North Africa grids to the European Grids seems (to the untrained eye and brain) easy!
I don't really mean to be rude but guys like you really piss me off, because it appears you have lost the ability to think and to reason.
There are two key factors in the IAUS technology that enable a cost-effective conversion of solar energy into usable power: their thin-film solar collectors, and their bladeless turbines, which have a much wider application than just converting solar thermal energy to electricity.
The company also will be combining this new development with existing catalytic technology to generate methanol fuel cleanly from carbon dioxide and hydrogen. All this can be done at a price comparable to gasoline, if not even a little less expensive, considering the present high price of gasoline.
The solar collectors do not operate as photovoltaic cells. Rather, the sun's rays focus onto a heat exchanger which then transfers the heat to a highly efficient turbine, which in turn hooks directly to a regular AC electricity generator.
Solar panels resemble magnifying glass lenses. Approximately 1/8-inch thick, resilient material, withstands strong winds.
Though the panels resemble a magnifying glass, they are in fact composed of thousands of microscopic refracting lenses on a thin substrate that is only about 1/8th of an inch thick, and held in place by a frame. The "thin film" manufacturing process is far less expensive than the photovoltaic cell manufacturing process.
The prototype is rectangular in shape, with 15 panels on each half, each focusing on a separate heat exchanger that will reach around 1000 degrees Fahrenheit, driving the turbine.
However, the manufactured product will be shaped like an octagon, about 22 feet in diameter; and will focus all the rays on a larger heat exchanger, which could get as hot as 4000 ºF. That unit will put out about 6-10 kilowatts of AC power, enough to power a few homes.
Solar to Methanol -- Natural Gas
Another process that the company is capable of involves a method of producing methanol from carbon dioxide and hydrogen. This technology is already developed and in existence elsewhere, but their apparatus will make it more economical, to the point where methanol could be made available at approximately the same cost as gasoline.
The UV energy from the sun will split CO2 (carbon dioxide) into CO (carbon monoxide) and O2 (oxygen). Then the CO along with hydrogen (H) bubbles through a catalytic unit containing copper and zinc powder suspended in a kind of oil. The CO and H combine into CH2OH (Methanol). The H is released through electrolysis from water.
The catalytic process requires about 600 psi, and 500ºF. The heat from the solar collectors initiates the process, and once it takes off, it generates excess heat, which can then be used to turn the turbine, to create more electricity by which they can run the electrolysis.
The IAUS concept is to produce methanol fuel using carbon dioxide -- a primary greenhouse gas -- from the environment -- at a cost comparable to gasoline. The CO2 could come either from ambient air, or from a smoke stack, to help clean it up the atmosphere.
Being a very small molecule, methanol, or natural gas, burns much more cleanly and efficiently, resulting in less emissions when it is used as a fuel.
This method solves the Hydrogen transport problem as well. The solar panels generate electricity to split off hydrogen from water, and rather than having to then ship the hydrogen, which is problematic, IAUS runs the hydrogen through this process to convert it to methanol, which can easily be contained and shipped.
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