#162 - Solar Field with Capability to Generate at Night

From the http://phys.org/ website:

http://phys.org/news/2013-10-arizona-solar-hours-sun.html

Interesting article about Abengoa's Solana solar plant in the desert near Gila Bend, Arizona. This facility covers 7.8 sq km / 3 sq miles, with the majority of the area taken up by rows of parabolic mirrors. The mirrors focus and concentrate sunlight onto a pipe that contains a heat transfer fluid. The heated fluid travels to boilers where the heat is exchanged with water, creating steam. The steam drives 140-megawatt turbines to produce electricity.

The heated fluid process is really is a thermal storage system that allows the plant to continue generating electricity at full output for approximately 6 hours even after the sun goes down. This addresses some of the intermittency issue, which is an often-cited disadvantage of solar power. The additional 6 hours of power generation allows the plant to meet the peak electricity demands of evening and early night-time.

Pictures © 2013 copyright Ed Gunther

http://guntherportfolio.com/2013/01/abengoa-solar-solana-generating-station-sortie/

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