[streeter]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('seahorse', 'I')'m interested in these roof or wall mounted solar heaters, which supposedly up the temperature in a room by about 10 degrees or more. Does anyone have any experience with these or any comments?

Here is a link to the website, about halfway down, you will see the roof or outside wall mounted product I'm interested in.

Clear Dome Solar

[Graeme]

Action Plan for 50%: How Solar Thermal Can Supply Europe's Energy

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('', 'T')he research efforts and infrastructure needed to supply 50% of the energy for space and water heating and cooling across Europe using solar thermal energy has been set out under the aegis of the European Solar Thermal Technology Platform (ESTTP). Published in late December 2008, more than 100 experts developed the Strategic Research Agenda (SRA), which includes a deployment roadmap showing the non-technological framework conditions that will enable this ambitious goal to be reached by 2050.

Heating accounts for a significant proportion of the world’s total energy demand with the building sector alone consuming 35.3%, of which 75% is for space heating and domestic water heating (IEA, 2006). In Europe, the final energy demand for heating and cooling at 49% is higher than for both electricity at 20%, or transport at 31%.

Despite these figures, for a long time low-temperature solar thermal only played a minor role compared to other renewable energy sources. It was mainly considered suitable for water heating needs and consequently, in future energy strategy scenarios, renewable heat generation frequently played only a small role.

However, the situation has changed dramatically. Without doubt, the European goal of covering 20% of energy needs with renewable energy can only be reached with a significant increase in the renewable heating sector. Within this sector, it is low-temperature solar thermal technology that has the greatest potential.

[Graeme]

Concentrating solar technology ready for deployment

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('', 'I')mproved and redesigned solar power collection dishes that promise to be cheaper and easier to manufacture have been unveiled by Stirling Energy Systems (SES) and Tessera Solar.

Concentrating solar-thermal power systems are one of the most efficient – last year one of the original design SunCatchers™ set a new solar-to-grid system conversion efficiency record of 31.25% net efficiency.

The new design, which has been developed in collaboration with engineers at Sandia National Laboratories’ National Solar Thermal Test Facility (NSTTF), will be ready to be deployed on a commercial scale next year.

[ian807]

I always wondered why stirling engines weren't in more general use, particularly in ocean based systems. Anyone know?

[TheAntiDoomer]

http://www.technologyreview.com/energy/23079/

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('', 'T')he company is currently building a 1.5-megawatt, 60-unit demonstration plant that will use the company's latest design. Stirling expects to finish that project by the end of the year. It also has contracts with two California utilities to supply a total of 800 megawatts of solar power in Southern California. The first of the plants that will supply this power could be built starting the middle of next year, pending government permits and loan guarantees from the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE).

[ian807]

I often wondered why Stirling engines weren't used more. They're reasonably efficient and heat-source agnostic. Moreover, they don't require high-tech chemistry or fabrication. It's all mechanical engineering. We could (and did, actually) build these things in the 1920s.

[Carlhole]

TED Talks

Talks about his progression in thinking about and inventing solar energy systems - including his optimized dsolar collector and optimized stirling engine.

[TheAntiDoomer]

http://www.renewable-energy-news.info/s ... echnology/

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('', 'S')HEC Energy, a company that has been heavily involved in alternative energy technology, has recently developed a unique high-temperature solar application which may help to supply major cities with fully sustainable solar power. After years of exhaustive research and development, the company is able to offer its patented technology to commercial projects; already working with large countries like the U.S, Mexico, India, Africa, Europe and the Middle East to bring solar thermal energy from the low range of 25KW to massive GW arrays. SHEC is also gaining interest for its solar technology in South America, Latin America, as well as the Asia Pacific and Mediterranean regions. What differentiates SHEC Energy’s technology from most solar applications is the reliability behind the science. While current solar technology cannot be stored when the sun is not available, SHEC’s high temperature storage mechanization allows the sun’s thermal energy to be gathered so that it may produce electricity during evening hours; allowing for considerable power storage in major cities. In addition, there are no waste materials produced throughout manufacturing, helping to brand this company as a pioneer in its field.

[mattduke]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('', 'O')n Monday, the Department of Energy announced a loan guarantee package totaling $1.4 billion coming as part of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act for BrightSource Energy, Inc.

The company is moving forward with plans for the construction of a network of three solar power generating facilities in the Mojave Desert near the border between California and Nevada. Once operational, it will be the world's largest solar power complex according to the DOE press release.

[green_achers]

I worked on a hazmat spill at Ivanpah about 15 years ago. It's desert tortoise habitat, very restricted.

[Graeme]

The world's first molten salt concentrating solar power plant

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('', 'T')his month, the Italian utility Enel unveiled "Archimede", the first Concentrating Solar Power (CSP) plant in the world to use molten salts for heat transfer and storage, and the first to be fully integrated to an existing combined-cycle gas power plant. Archimede is a 5 MW plant located in Priolo Gargallo (Sicily), within Europe's largest petrochemical district. The breakthrough project was co-developed by Enel, one of World's largest utilities, and ENEA, the Italian National Agency for New Technologies, Energy and Sustainable Economic Development.

[Tanada]

Now that Fall has arrived I wonder what kind of power output they are getting? Sicily is much further north than most non-Europeans think it is.

[sparky]

.
.
. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Themis_%28 ... r_plant%29
.
.

[cephalotus]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('Tanada', 'N')ow that Fall has arrived I wonder what kind of power output they are getting? Sicily is much further north than most non-Europeans think it is.

[sparky]

.

the power meter indicate a production of 0.0 KW , it must be night over there now

For previous days , it reach a peak of 4.5 Gw or less than installed power .
I didn't integrate but a rough reading give less than 10% of installed name plate power

[cephalotus]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('sparky', '.')

the power meter indicate a production of 0.0 KW , it must be night over there now

[RankineCycle]

If I recall, it's not the "world's first molten salt CSP plant", it is "world's first molten salt CSP to use molten salt for storage and heat transfer". It's also gas-solar hybrid. They built it next to a CCGT plant and the solar heat is added to the steam portion of the CCGT plant. They say they expect the solar heat to manifest itself as 5 MW of electricity, so I guess that probably means a solar field somewhere in the neighborhood of 15 MW...or 30-40 MW if the 5 MW is expected to be generated 24 hours per day.

40 MW is a large field for a pilot plant, maybe that was 5 MW thermal? Or maybe they just made it big since they didn't have to buy a separate power generation system (just used the CCGT's turbine).

http://yeroc.us/weblog/post/index/78/Getting-more-from-solar-thermal

[kublikhan]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('', 'R')esearchers at MIT have revealed exactly how a molecule called fulvalene diruthenium, which was discovered in 1996, works to store and release heat on demand. This understanding, reported in a paper published on Oct. 20 in the journal Angewandte Chemie, should make it possible to find similar chemicals based on more abundant, less expensive materials than ruthenium, and this could form the basis of a rechargeable battery to store heat rather than electricity.

The molecule undergoes a structural transformation when it absorbs sunlight, putting it into a higher-energy state where it can remain stable indefinitely. Then, triggered by a small addition of heat or a catalyst, it snaps back to its original shape, releasing heat in the process. In effect, explained Grossman, this process makes it possible to produce a "rechargeable heat battery" that can repeatedly store and release heat gathered from sunlight or other sources.

In principle, Grossman said, a fuel made from fulvalene diruthenium, when its stored heat is released, "can get as hot as 200 degrees C, plenty hot enough to heat your home, or even to run an engine to produce electricity." Compared to other approaches to solar energy, he said, "it takes many of the advantages of solar-thermal energy, but stores the heat in the form of a fuel. It's reversible, and it's stable over a long term. You can use it where you want, on demand. You could put the fuel in the sun, charge it up, then use the heat, and place the same fuel back in the sun to recharge."

The problem of ruthenium's rarity and cost still remains as "a dealbreaker," Grossman said, but now that the fundamental mechanism of how the molecule works is understood, it should be easier to find other materials that exhibit the same behavior. This molecule "is the wrong material, but it shows it can be done," he said. The next step, he said, is to use a combination of simulation, chemical intuition, and databases of tens of millions of known molecules to look for other candidates that have structural similarities and might exhibit the same behavior. "It's my firm belief that as we understand what makes this material tick, we'll find that there will be other materials" that will work the same way, Grossman said.

[Ludi]

Trees used to work pretty well as a way to store the sun's heat.