heliostats Articles
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Some surprising facts about Ivanpah
Ivanpah, the world’s largest power tower CSP project, seems to attract a lot of controversy. Along with that, it brings up concerns about its operations. CSP Today has received some interesting questions amounting to ‘Has something gone wrong? Is Ivanpah not really working?’ By Susan Kraemer In such novel technology built at such scale, it is perhaps not surprising that there ...
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Stellio heliostat set to cut CSP tower costs by 20%
A new heliostat modeled on South African data is using a pentagonal reflector design, innovative construction techniques and smart software to boost the cost efficiency of tower plants. Heliostat fields typically contribute about 50% of the capital investment for CSP tower plants, according to a study by SBP Sonne, the German engineering firm which has developed the Stellio heliostat design. ...
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Rjukan Proyect (Norway) - Case Study
The city of Rjukan does not see the sun for about six consecutive months in the winter period as it lies deep in the valley. In the city of Rjukan in Norway, our customer placed a system of heliostat mirrors on the mountain slope, in close cooperation with the local authorities. The heliostat mirrors will illuminate the town square in the winter period. Our mirrors enhance not only the conversion ...
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Project - Sigmaplantas
Industry: Solar power plants. Partners: ISFOC, Isofoton. Description: This project include the design and development of a microplant of heliostats to concentrate solar radiation into a cogeneration receiver to generate electricity and storage hot water. Solar MEMS team participated in the design and development of an heliostat with sun sensors for a high accurate aiming of the sun ...
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Khi Solar, Upington South Africa - Case Study
Near the city of Upington in South Africa´s North Cape Province, you will find South Africa´s first central tower plant plant. This 50 MW project, with several new groundbreaking technologies, is also the first plant equipped with Rioglass´ new heliostat mirror facet technology. A new integrated product with optimized characteristics helping to further develop the CSP tower ...
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Can the Solar Hourglass serve as a CSP landmark?
A CSP project proposal has won first place in the 2014 Land Art Generator Initiative (LAGI) competition, but can the design make it beyond paper? By Heba Hashem October was an eventful month for Santiago Muros Cortés. The Argentina-based architect impressed the jury in Copenhagen with his plan for a Solar Hourglass that would use a solar beam instead of sand as a trickling material. The ...
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Centrifugal CSP could offer siting breakthroughs, $60/MWh power
A new ceramic particle CSP receiver soon to be tested in the U.S. could lower the cost of energy by up to 20% and accelerate industrial heat deployment through particle transport innovations, Reiner Buck, Head of Solar Tower Systems at German Aerospace Centre (DLR), told New Energy Update. Last month, the U.S. Department of Energy allocated $750,000 of funding to Sandia National Laboratories ...
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Parabolic Trough or Solar Tower? A technology decision
Securing cost reductions and carving out routes to grid parity remains as ever the most pressing issue for the CSP industry. At the crux of this pursuit is understanding the associated costs of the CSP technologies themselves, whether it be Parabolic Trough, Solar Tower, Linear Fresnel or Dish Sterling. Delving even deeper, the ability to identify and successfully implement cost reduction ...
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Mirrors in Dawn Dusk Orbit for Low-Cost Terrestrial Solar Electric Power in the Evening
Herein, a constellation of mirror satellites in a dawn dusk polar orbit is desciibed with the mirrors deflecting sunbeams down to terrestrial solar electric power fields producing additional solar energy in the early morning and evening hours. A specific mirror satellite design is described where each satellite is comprised of a lightweight thin aluminized mirror membrane stretched flat by three ...
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A CSP developer`s DNI dream
In an emerging CSP market such as South Africa, one of the many challenges developers face is siting the project based on acquiring accurate Direct Normal Irradiation data, as optimal siting of CSP plants is a key component to plant efficiency, and ultimate profitability. London, UK, August 24 2011 DNI plays a role because it is used to predict the output of concentrated solar power stations ...
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Capex of modular CSP plants could halve if 1 GW deployed
Soon to complete its first full-scale module in Morocco, CSP developer 247Solar predicts series build gains could reduce capex to $3,000/kWe and sees advantages for industrial energy supply. Last month, 247Solar announced it will build its first fully-operational demonstration Brayton cycle CSP plant module at the Ouarzazate solar park in central Morocco. Due online in the first half of ...
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China beam-down CSP pioneer predicts 30% cost reduction
The developer of the world's first commercial beam-down CSP plant predicts a four-fold hike in thermal efficiency for a larger 200 MW plant. As CSP developers seek new ways to cut costs, a new 50 MW beam-down tower plant in China will provide valuable insights into an emerging CSP technology. Developed by BCP Solar Technology (known in China as Xinchen Solar), the RMB 1.8 billion ($255 ...
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Fire halts construction at Chile`s first CSP tower; US channels $30 million into CSP research
Fire stops building work at Cerro Dominador in Chile A fire broke out Tuesday at the 110 MW Cerro Dominador CSP project, currently under construction in Chile's Atacama desert, the developer said on Twitter. The fire was spotted at 20:00 local time Tuesday at the top of the 250-meter receiver tower, development company Cerro Dominador, a subsidiary of EIG Global Energy Partners, said. By ...
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Bill Gates-backed CSP group hits 1,000° C; Terraform buys more Spanish CSP plants
US CSP group surpasses 1,000° C using greater reflector accuracy U.S. CSP technology start-up Heliogen has achieved temperatures exceeding 1,000° C by improving the reflectiveness of CSP tower arrays, the company announced November 19. Heliogen's technology uses cameras and advanced computer vision software to align heliostats more accurately and increase solar efficiency. Backed by ...
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CSP cloud cameras set to cut sun block losses
Cutting-edge camera technology and irradiation forecasts could increase CSP revenues by several percentage points and boost competitiveness in key China and Middle East markets, researchers say. Advances in sky camera systems are set to drive up CSP efficiency in the coming years. In November, U.S. technology developer Heliogen hit CSP tower temperatures of over 1,000° C by using cameras ...
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Charting economic climate
The economic climate affects our day-to-day lives. Work activities are intricately interconnected with social well-being which in turn effects family harmony and trickles on down to impact personal wherewithal. Still, 'climate' is what it is. There is nothing any of us alone can do about it. At the same time, however, how we think about it tends to shift the reality we experience day to day. ...
By Special-Lite
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Chile CSP developer predicts world’s lowest price in June
The Cerro Dominador group is working with strong construction partners on its Likana CSP project to cut costs and beat gas plant prices, buoyed by progress at its first plant in Chile, Fernando Gonzalez, CEO of Cerro Dominador, told the CSP Madrid 2019 conference. As developer Cerro Dominador nears completion of Latin America's first CSP plant in Chile, the company is preparing what could be ...
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Concentrated Solar Power 101 – A Solar Setup in the Makes
Have I ever told you about my love for Morocco? Easily one of my favorite places I’ve ever been to. The aromatic spices, the lovely hospitality, the beauty of the country, and yes, I’ve tried but I cannot make couscous as good as I’ve had there. Add concentrated solar power to this mix, and won’t it just be too good to be true? So yeah, it wouldn’t be incorrect to ...
By Powerhub
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