SkyFuel heats up solar thermal power race

Update on October 13, 2008 6:30 a.m. PT: Corrections to the SkyFuel's relationship to NREL and it's projected cost of delivered electricity.

Even with the teetering economy, solar companies are bullish that tapping free energy from the sun is a solid financial move.

SkyFue on Friday is hosting an event to unveil its solar power plant system: a parabolic trough made from reflective plastic. Colorado Gov. Bill Rittner will speak at the event, held at SkyFuel's research center in Arvada, Colo.

SkyFuel's parabolic trough, made with reflective plastic rather than mirrored glass, a design which it says lowers the overall cost.

(Credit: SkyFuel)

Parabolic troughs have been around for decades and are considered the incumbent technology in concentrating solar thermal power plants, which are suited for hot desert climates like in Spain and the U.S. southwest.

Reflective troughs concentrate sunlight onto a liquid which is converted to steam, which turns a power generator.

SkyFuel's enhancement on the basic shape is a trough that uses silver encased in plastic, rather than mirrored glass. Although silver is certainly an expensive material, using plastic cuts down on the overall cost, according to Chris Huntington, vice president of business development at SkyFuel. The company's founder tested the designs extensively with the National Renewable Energy Lab in Colorado.

He said that the cost of an installed solar power plant using its equipment is about 25 percent less than existing parabolic troughs.

The company estimates that it can profitably deliver electricity below the concentrating solar power benchmark of 15 cents per kilowatt-hour. That's the price of other solar thermal technologies, but still more than a natural gas or coal power plant.

Using a solar trough installation at an existing power plant, where there would not be the need to purchase a steam turbine would lower the cost significantly, Huntington said.

Several solar thermal companies have sprouted up in the past five years, with different designs such as Ausra's Fresnel lens glass reflectors or eSolar solar power tower.

Demand is driven by state-level renewable portfolio standards. Utilities in California, for example, need to purchase 20 percent of their electricity from renewable sources by 2010.

Huntington said the company expects to have a small installation of its SkyFuel system--on the order of 2 to 10 megawatts in size--in the next year and then larger installations after those pilots.

Having a less cutting-edge design than other firms is an advantage in a tight funding market, Huntington said.

Click on the image to see a photo gallery of different concentrating solar technologies.

(Credit: Ausra)

"The cost of borrowing is going up everywhere and there will be a tighter credit market. But if any money is going to be spent on CSP (concentrating solar power) plants in the near future, I think it's going to be on tried-and-true systems like the parabolic trough," he said.

The company is already working on the second generation product that will include storage through a Department of Energy grant. It probably won't be commercially available for at least three years, Huntington said.

Rather than heat up oil or hot water, the parabolic troughs will heat up tubes of molten salt. That salt can be stored to make electricity even after the sun goes down.

[RBojji]

The invention of Gravity Power Towers ( http://gravitypoweredtransport.blogspot.com) can reduce the solar energy cost to the user to 1/3rd , that is only 5 cents per kwh ! So it is time that the solar and wind power promoters think of achieving synergy using the gravity Power Towers in transportation. The impact is tremendous. Practically 8m barrel of oil per day can be saved in USA with this arrangement! It is a massive contribution and gravity Power is eternal as solar power is! Click on Newton's image at www.atrilab.com for full presentation, please.

[Seaspray0]

Yes, I looked. Gravity Power Towers is nothing more than recouping the kinetic energy of a decelerating object. I've seen better plans for perpetual motion machines than this garbage.

[mvisconte]

I believe you, and I will give you 60 Bazillion dollars for your perpetual energy machine. Can you put it in a suitcase and mail it to me? Your money will be returned in the same suitcase.

Yes, this guy's "Gravity Tower Power" is a load of crap. Heck *I* can make a patent application for anything too. Hey, how about a fantastic solvent made up of simple natural (organic?) chemicals... it dissolves many compounds "naturally", and is eco-friendly. Even tho' it's made of highly explosive and volitile compound, it's safe to store and is so safe that if it does get on you, it doesn't burn. Special care MUST be taken to keep humans from a supersaturated atmosphere, as it could displace the air in your lungs, and in high enough density, it could lead to asphixiation. It transports well, and does not require any special handling other than the above-mentioned cautions.

It's hydrogen hidroxide.

I am willing to sell my formula to anyone who would like to develop it, and I would only charge maybe 3 millions of dollars. A steal, I am sure.

Please contact me for an address to send the money to...

[expatincebu]

Solar and Wind power are actually cheaper than oil and coal. People never factor in the the social cost of coal and oil. The huge government subsidies, the huge military expenditures, the environmental damage, and the medical cost or treating illness created by the pollution.

[mlamonica]

Another way to attach a price to fossil fuel pollution is through a carbon tax or carbon cap-and-trade system. Obviously, these regulations are supposed to make coal and natural gas power plants more expensive to operate. The first cap and trade system in the U.S. just started in the Northeast. Many people expect a federal system will be phased in over the next five years or so.

[lesliejs]

great comment expat.

I remember a company discussed on CNET called Sunrgi http://www.sunrgi.com/
I think one of their biggest advantages is that their solar setup is upgradeable, and uses fewer solar cells, reducing the costs. I remember seeing a cost comparison that showed that sunrgi's production of electricity, would cost about the same per kwh as current fossil fuels initially, then around $0.05/kwh eventually. But like expatincebu commented, reduced major subsidies by govt and military would reduce the overall financial impact.
Fact of the matter is that, the govt will still have to provide some subsidies to households/businesses to adopt such technological changes.

Any technology change in energy production must be upgradeable.
It must have lower maintenance costs.
It must be able to pay for itself over a reasonable amount of time, considering current solar panels may have to be replaced before the time that they could pay for themselves with savings.
Portability, durability, and costs have to improve too.

Also someone has to find a way to address the new trend of thefts of solar panels from homes and find a solution.

[Penguinisto]

Ditto what Seaspray0 said ab't the gravity thingy... Newton always gets his Vig, so unless you have a somewhat constant and continuous source of kinetic energy that doesn't require you to spend any in creating it (see also hydroelectric power), you're not going to be able to harness gravity in meaningful quantities.

Personally, photovoltaic solar cells are rising in efficiency up to 30% conversion nowadays (the typical standard is 18% for most cell types, but this is about to change), which is getting very competitive with wind energy. Cost per kWh should start dropping to a quantity meaningful enough to realize shorter ROI figures, at least on an industrial scale (no numbers available offhand here @ home, but nearly double the conversion should drop the $/kWh figure by about 30-45%)

PS: Solar power is not eternal... the Sun will burn out eventually, though it'll take a few billion years before that happens. :)

/P