Comments on: 100MW Concentrating Solar Power Plant Commissioned In Spain

By: Zachary Shahan

Zachary Shahan — Mon, 21 Jan 2013 10:54:00 +0000

I’ve got some interesting pieces and interviews on CSP vs PV coming. Stay tuned.

By: Bob_Wallace

Bob_Wallace — Mon, 21 Jan 2013 02:30:00 +0000

If we had extremely inexpensive storage (1 cent per kWh, for example) then we might be able to run on nothing but solar. We’d also need some massive transmission ability to move power from the year-round sunny places to the not-sunny-in-the-winter places.

Seems to me we’re kind of stuck with including wind, geothermal and most everything else we can devise in order to make costs reasonable.

By: Daniel Coffey

Daniel Coffey — Sun, 20 Jan 2013 23:21:00 +0000

I like solar PV better due to the lack of losses in the steam, turbine, etc. All those moving parts eat up energy, which otherwise would become electricity more directly. I understand the arguments about later operational times and the like due to thermal enertia, but the reality is that losses in the system are large, especially if you use steam as the working material to move the turbine/generators.

PV is very low risk, no or few moving parts, and pretty much just works. See the Soitec Concentrating PV, a system which is about 28% conversion, several times the best thermal processes.

By: Heramb Phadake

Heramb Phadake — Fri, 04 Jan 2013 03:03:00 +0000

Very Good News!! This will boost the Concentrated Solar thermal power…..

By: Steve MacLeod

Steve MacLeod — Tue, 18 Dec 2012 12:29:00 +0000

GREAT News!