A bright future for solar power

[paultrafalgar]

Seems to be lots of activity in the solar power world:
http://www.yourrenewablenews.com/news_item.php?newsID=10457
and Siemens buys a CSP company:
http://www.google.co.uk/url?sa=t&source=web&ct=res&cd=3&ved=0CB0QFjAC&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.bloomberg.com%2Fapps%2Fnews%3Fpid%3D20601100%26sid%3DabMbsHGJnhvE&rct=j&q=solar%20thermal%20power%20systems&ei=GODZSqz5DsuB4Qadx7jQCA&usg=AFQjCNFHz4vFxZ-FD1tgOXmLKReTFdpx4A

 

[spinningmagnets]

Use search terms "Solar Thermal" and also "Concentrated Solar Power" (CSP), and another is "Organic Rankine Cycle" (ORC) which can be considered freon-steam (boils and condenses at much lower temps than water-steam)

Whether someone agrees or disagrees with global warming and carbon offset energy policy, these things will be affecting near-future govenment policies. Also, large power plants take a lot of time to build, and conventional power systems might not remain cheap for very long. Those alternatives that are best case scenario need to be identified, and we should start building them soon.

Southern California, Nevada, Arizona, and West Texas should be building solar-thermal plants (with heat-storage tanks) to produce 50% of their electrical needs ASAP.

http://www.scarab.se/pdf/The other kind of solar power.pdf

For home-scale there is a viable argument for solar-PV stored in a Vanadium Redox battery, or for a smaller system, the common Flooded Lead Acid (FLA).

 

[torker]

Plus geothermal in the west think Yellowstone, and vicinity could probably produce most the grid power we need. Here is a site I frequent foe worldwide solar news.http://www.solarbuzz.com/index.asp

 

[spinningmagnets]

In the southwest, solar-thermal with air-cooling seems to be the most promising (water in short supply), but the northwest needs to build geothermal ORC like the plant that is operating in Chena Alaska

http://www.chenahotsprings.com/geothermal-power/

Here's the geothermal graphic:

and the solar exposure graphic:

and wind exposure graphic:

 

[paultrafalgar]

For home-scale there is a viable argument for solar-PV stored in a Vanadium Redox battery, or for a smaller system, the common Flooded Lead Acid (FLA).

Spot on, spinningmagnets. Do you know who is selling VRBs now? There's a company in Germany selling big ones (too big for households) but when I emailed them about a smaller system, the said they wouldn't do those yet. They are here:
http://www.cellstrom.com/

 

[dogman dan]

The solar graphic shows why we (the southwest) will be the Saudi Arabia of US solar energy someday. Just as good for growing algea fuel too, and we have projects moving forward for both within 70 miles.

 

[julesa]

The guy that invented the Super Soaker is working on a 100% solid state thermoelectric generator that has great potential:

http://dsc.discovery.com/technology/features/inventing-thermoelectric-generators.html

As in all other heat engines, JTEC's conversion efficiency is dependent on the difference in temperature between its hot and cool zones. For example, if the hot side is raised to 1,100 degrees Celsius -- which Johnson says an eventual commercial version would be able to withstand -- while the cool side remained at room temperature, 25 degrees Celsius, it could, ideally, be 78 percent Carnot efficient.

They say a prototype will be ready in a few months that should be capable of 40% efficiency.

 

[spinningmagnets]

Its my undeestanding that the smallest Vanadium Redox Battery (VRB) is sold for an Uninterruptable Power Supply (UPS) which is a back-up battery and switching controller that allows phones, ATM's, and cash registers to continue working when the power grid has temporarily gone down, Of course, they recharge when the grid comes back on-line.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Uninterruptible_power_supply

Here's a link with some info and some manufacturer links. Its hard to find accurate figures with them not being sold to the general public and hidden costs in manufacturer claims, but...

http://www.peswiki.com/index.php/Directory:Vanadium_Redox_Batteries

Its my understanding the cost for the smallest home-scale system would be around $600/one-kWH. But once installed, increasing the capacity of the system simply means installing larger tanks to hold more fluid, so very large systems are nearer $100/one-kWH.

The unusual thing about VRB is that so far, the fluid doesn't appear to break down. A properly sized off-grid home that has a conventional power system (wind-gen/solar-PV/back-up-diesel/propane ICE) that is stored in large deep-cycle FLA batteries, the batteries "might" live 7-10 years before needing replacement.

If two homes shared the costs of installing a large VRB system between them, there could be considerable cost savings, but "at todays prices" FLA is still a better deal. You could buy 4 complete sets of FLA batteries now to cover your needs for the next 30 years, or split a large VRB with a neighbor.

A 4-unit condo building might be a perfect application for a PV roof, and a basement VRB. The homeowners association could subcontract the repair and maintenance. Each unit could have two meters, and if you used more than your alloted monthly share of kWH, your unit would temporarily switch over to grid power.

If someone feared that future money will be diluted by inflation, and prices of lead-based batteries will go way up, you might consider special-ordering very new FLA batteries right now, that are shipped DRY. I've heard they will store indefinitely until the liquid electrolyte is added.