A new efficiency world record of 32% has been set for 30kW Solar Stirling dish modules by Ripasso Energy, a solar technology provider based in Sweden.
The new Ripasso Energy Stirling Dish modules have proven to be an effective converter of sunlight into electricity in most climates, but most especially in hot and dry climates. It’s in these types of environments that the system is efficient enough to convert roughly one third of solar energy into electricity.
Stirling dish technology has long been noted as a promising technology with many innate advantages when compared to other types of solar power. But until now there hasn’t been much commercial development.
Ripasso Energy wrote in a news release sent to CleanTechnica: “The Ripasso Energy solution is modularized without any need for central turbines or DC/AC converters allowing step-by-step implementation with generation starting from the first units in service. Low environmental impact in combination with low Levelized Cost Of Energy (LCOE) offers a new ‘Fast-track’ path for solar based world future energy in ‘the sun belt’.”
“The solar conditions in parts of MENA, South Africa and Chile indicates that it is possible to obtain LCOE levels of less than 0.1 Euro per KWh for a 30 MW plant and even lower for larger plants where 0.05 Euro per kWh is our target,” says Carl Ohlen, Marketing & Sales Director for Ripasso Energy. “This makes the Stirling dish competitive with all other electrical energy technologies in these countries and also feasible in other regions in Asia, Australia and Americas with relatively high solar radiations.”
Ohlen continues: “Recent reports from IEA, the World Bank as well as the negotiations at the latest UN COP conference in Doha all points out the urgency to de-carbonize the energy system. The Ripasso Energy Stirling Dish offers here an efficient solution with fast implementation for many countries in need of electricity.”
Their first commercial power plant is currently being built in South Africa.
The all-in-one stand-alone nature of the technology makes it very appealing. When that’s combined with its apparent cost-effectiveness in sunny regions, it’s hard to imagine that the technology won’t be a large part of future energy development in those regions.
Image Credits: Ripasso Energy
Sign up for daily news updates from CleanTechnica on email. Or follow us on Google News!
Have a tip for CleanTechnica, want to advertise, or want to suggest a guest for our CleanTech Talk podcast? Contact us here.
Former Tesla Battery Expert Leading Lyten Into New Lithium-Sulfur Battery Era — Podcast:
I don't like paywalls. You don't like paywalls. Who likes paywalls? Here at CleanTechnica, we implemented a limited paywall for a while, but it always felt wrong — and it was always tough to decide what we should put behind there. In theory, your most exclusive and best content goes behind a paywall. But then fewer people read it! We just don't like paywalls, and so we've decided to ditch ours. Unfortunately, the media business is still a tough, cut-throat business with tiny margins. It's a never-ending Olympic challenge to stay above water or even perhaps — gasp — grow. So ...
