Parabolic Trough Power Plant

 

Concave mirrors and lenses have been used for ages to concentrate the sun’s rays on a single point and therefore multiply its strength. Mirrors with a parabolic cross-section are especially suited to this purpose because they can also focus the outer rays towards the middle. If a mirror is designed in the form of a trough, the solar radiation, concentrated about forty times, can be focused on an absorber tube with a heat-conducting fluid inside.

The best use for these tube collector thermal solar power systems is for domestic water heating and heating support. A well-known high-tech system is the parabolic trough power plant in the Californian Mojave Desert. It has a total of 2.3 million square meters of mirror surface area and produces 354 megawatts of electricity. To improve their performance they can be rotated about their roll axis. The heat-conducting fluid is heated up to 400 ºC and by means of a turbine and generator then produces electric current. Similar large plants are also planned at Crete, Egypt and India and should be able to deliver electricity at a price of about $ 0.07 (0.08 €) per kilowatt-hour.

The Center for Solar Energy and Hydrogen Research (Zentrum für Sonnenenergie- und Wasserstoff-Forschung (ZSF)) in Stuttgart, Germany operates an experimental plant in Almeria, Spain with oil as the heat-conductor and heat-storage fluid.

source: http://www.solarserver.com

Building Integrated Photovoltaics (BIPV)

The segment of building-integrated photovoltaics (BIPV) is finally beginning to emerge in the marketplace after more than 20 years of R&D and fancy showcase projects, due to the vision of leading solar technology and material developers. Exciting new products that incorporate PV modules into actual building materials such as curtain walls, windows, and roofing shingles are now available from a variety of developers in the BIPV supply chain.

Earlier generations of PV for buildings utilized solar panels mounted directly onto the building roof with minimal aesthetic considerations. This concept was replaced by building-integrated PV systems, where the PV modules actually came to replace parts of the building envelope, providing functional considerations and lowering costs. More recently, thin-film PV technologies have begun to enable the seamless integration of PV onto buildings, and will likely succeed in markets where their superior flexibility, minimal weight, and improved ability to perform in variable lighting conditions gives them a significant competitive advantage over conventional solar technologies.


A definition of BIPV and BAPV

There is some confusion regarding the definition of BIPV within both the PV industry and the building industry. GTM Research defines BIPV as building-integrated PV, which requires that the building team along the entire supply chain - including architects, building designers, engineers, building owners and utility companies - work together to design and build the photovoltaics into the building’s very "skin" as an element, from the inception of the project onwards. BAPV, on the other hand, is defined as building-applied PV. In this process, the photovoltaics are a retrofit, added to the building after construction is completed.


Solar roofing; solar tiles and shingles

A number of BIPV developers are active in the solar roofing market segment, including United Solar Ovonics, Dow Solar, Applied Solar, Corus Colors, and the Victorian Organic Solar Cell Consortium. Perhaps the most popular integrated system in the U.S. consists of PV modules using mono- or polycrystalline cells to replace conventional cement tiles. These PV tiles are installed on roofs in a way that blends in with cement tiles, following the contours of the roof. In many cases, one module can replace up to three or four tiles, and reduce the number of necessary connections. The PV array weighs less than the cement tiles, but the roof has to be engineered for the correct weight and compliant with local and national roofing requirements, since it represents the first line of defense against the weather.


Solar Wall Applications

Recent years have seen a rapidly growing interest among contemporary architects in the use of curtain walls to create innovative, attention-grabbing building façades. With new concerns about the environment and a focus on developing affordable building envelopes, the curtain wall represents a microcosm of the issues that are important to architecture: climate responsiveness, energy use, the intelligent utilization of resources, and advancements in digital design and fabrication.

 

source:http://www.solarserver.com

The world's first metro to run on solar energy powered by Total and SunPower

 

Total and SunPower Corp. on May 23^rd, 2016 announced that SunPower has signed a power purchase agreement (PPA) for the supply of 300 gigawatt hours (GWh) per year of solar power to Metro of Santiago, Chile.

With this agreement, Metro of Santiago will become the first public transportation system in the world to run mostly on solar energy. Metro of Santiago currently serves 2.2 million passengers per day.

The power will be generated from the El Pelícano solar project, a 100-megawatt (AC) PV plant near the municipalities of La Higuera (Coquimbo Region) and Vallenar (Atacama Region). Construction of the PV plant will begin this year, with expected operation by the end of 2017.

"This contract is expressing Chile's commitment for a sustainable world. We are proud to partner with Metro in developing a new way of powering public transportation systems through competitive, reliable and clean energy," says Bernard Clément, senior vice president of Business & Operations, of the New Energies division of Total.

"Solar is an ideal energy source for Chile because of the country's high solar resource and transparent energy policies,” added. Eduardo Medina, executive vice president, global power plants, SunPower.

SunPower will design and build the PV project and provide operations and maintenance once it is operational.

The company will construct a SunPower “Oasis^” power plant system at the site. The Oasis system is a fully-integrated, modular solar power block that is engineered for rapid and cost-effective deployment of utility-scale solar projects while optimizing land use. The technology includes robotic solar panel cleaning capability that uses 75 percent less water than traditional cleaning methods and can help improve system performance by up to 15 percent. 

source: http://www.solarserver.com

EDF Energies Nouvelles commissions the 50 MW Zmorot solar PV plant in Israel

 

EDF Energies Nouvelles (Paris, France) on May 23^rd, 2016 announced the commissioning of the 50 MWp Zmorot solar photovoltaic (PV) power plant by its local subsidiary EDF EN Israël.

The PV facility, one of the most powerful in the country, was inaugurated by the French Prime Minister during his official visit to Israel, together with Israeli Ministers of the Environment Protection and of National Infrastructure, Energy and Water and Antoine Cahuzac, Chief Executive Officer of EDF Energies Nouvelles.

Located in the Negev desert, the Zmorot PV plant benefits from optimal insolation conditions for the generation of solar power.

The Zmorot facility extends over an area of more than 60 hectares and consists of 200,000 PV panels supplied by French producer Photowatt.

With an installed capacity of 50 MWp, Zmorot generates solar power to cover the annual electricity needs of around 30,000 inhabitants for 20 years.

The solar power plant was built as part of the Israeli government’s objective to reach a 17% share of renewables in its energy mix by 2030. 

With the commissioning of this new solar photovoltaic facility, EDF EN Israel now operates 11 solar power plants in the country. 

source: http://www.solarserver.com

Market research: Australian solar PV installers primarily install commercial energy storage systems

 

Australian solar PV installers are focusing more and more on energy storage systems, according to a new study by German market researcher EuPD Research (Bonn).

41% of the participants of the "Australian PV InstallerMonitor 2015/2016" already offer storage solutions to their customers. A further 26% want to include energy storage in their portfolio this year.

The installers who will not offer battery storage claim financial reasons (high prices and low margins) as the main obstacles.

According to the study, the Australian PV storage market currently focuses on commercial systems. More than half (56%) of the survey participants primarily install storage solutions in the system size segment of 12kWh and more.

Only a small amount of the installers install residential systems. Furthermore, nearly all installations (96%) from the sample group has installed came in combination with a new PV system - the retro-fit segment is virtually no factor at the moment.

  source:http://www.solarserver.com

New report: Solar plus storage to reduce electricity costs for rental housing in California

 

Battery storage is emerging as an effective new strategy for reducing electricity costs for affordable multifamily rental housing in California, according to the report “Closing the California Clean Energy Divide: Reducing Electric Bills in Affordable Multifamily Rental Housing with Solar+Storage”.

Battery storage systems not only provide economic returns today, they can also preserve the value of solar in an evolving policy and regulatory environment.

Because batteries empower owners of solar photovoltaics (PV) systems to take control of the energy they produce and when they consume it, storage can deliver deeper cost reductions that can be shared among affordable housing owners, developers, and tenants.

California has installed numerous integrated solar and battery storage projects; however, few have served low-income tenants or owners of affordable rental housing.

This disparity is due to many factors, including a lack of information about the economics of these systems in multifamily housing.

To provide that needed information, Clean Energy Group, California Housing Partnership, and Center for Sustainable Energy, with analytical support from Geli, are embarking on a series of reports on solar and storage in California affordable multifamily rental housing.

The report examines the utility bill impacts of adding battery storage to stand-alone solar in affordable rental housing facilities in California’s three investor-owned utility service territories, each with different rate structures. It is the first such report on these technologies in this sector in California. 

source: http://www.solarserver.com

Brazil targets 7 GW of utility-scale solar PV and 1.32 GW of distributed PV installations by 2024

 

Brazil doubled its solar targets for both utility-scale and distributed generation in January. The 2024 target under the official 10-year energy plan (PDE) is for 7 GW of utility-scale solar and 1.32 GW of distributed PV installations.

According to the Latin America PV Playbook of GTM Research, 1.4 GW of distributed PV could be achieved as early as 2020, especially given strong support for the segment in Brazil through the ProGD policy.

Distributed energy generation connections grew by 308% in Brazil in 2015. This is according to the National Electric Energy Agency (ANEEL), Brazil’s top energy regulator, and these figures include micro-generation and mini-generation.

The state of Minas Gerais has the most micro- and mini-generation systems with 333 connections, followed by Rio de Janeiro (203) and Rio Grande do Sul (186).

ProGD is a distributed generation development program for energy. It was launched by Brazil’s Ministry of Mines and Energy (MME) and is aimed at encouraging even more consumers to generate their own power from renewable energy sources, with a particular emphasis on solar energy.

DG installations on private residences, in industrial setups or in the agricultural sector

According to the MME, by 2030 roughly 2.7 million Brazilian consumers could have distributed generation installations either on private residences, in industrial setups or in the agricultural sector. This would be the equivalent of 23.5GW of clean energy production.

The National Energy Plan running until 2050 predicts that 18% of Brazilian homes will host PV systems by 2050. These installations are expected to generate around 45 terawatt-hours of energy and this would meet 13% of the country’s electricity demand.

Stakeholders will be meeting at Intersolar South America

Distributed generation (DG) could trigger investments worth more than BRL100 billion (USD 25.6 billion) by 2030, according to the MME. Against this backdrop, DG is expected to become an attractive investment for homeowners, as well as manufacturers of PV modules and inverters. All of these stakeholders will be meeting at Intersolar South America in Sao Paulo in August, at the largest solar event in Latin America.

DG is a key feature of the Intersolar South America conference as well as the exhibition. On the first day of the event the conference will include talks from key stakeholders from the private and public sector.

The primary topics of discussion will include the pros and cons of a regulated and an unregulated market as well as the main obstacles facing the Brazilian net-metering program, which includes taxation, grid connection procedures, and financing.

The number of newly installed DG plants in Brazil has reached record levels in recent years. This has mainly been driven by rising electricity prices, decreasing technology costs, and the new regulatory framework.

The opportunities this has created have attracted a large number of new players to the market. This will also be addressed in a special session on financing DG, which will take place on Thursday, August 25. This session will focus on key challenges, given the scarcity of competitive or low-cost financing. 

source: http://www.solarserver.com