SolarReserve and Preneal have garnered the necessary permit to build a 50-megawatt thermal-solar plant in Spain that will use molten salt to store and release solar energy, the companies said Wednesday.
The project will be built in Alcazar de San Juan, a town about 110 miles south of Madrid. The environmental permit that will allow the construction of a project using molten salt was issued by the local Castilla-La Mancha government.
The Santa Monica, Calif.-based start-up, SolarReserve uses a fairly unique method to offer power from a solar plant even after the sun sets.
While the sun is shining, giant heliostats reflect sunlight into a center pool of hot, liquefied salt that absorbs the heat. The molten salt, which can be kept hot even at night or on cloudy days for up to 24 sunless hours, is used to feed a steam-generated turbine to make electricity. The salt is then redirected out of the generator to be reheated and used again.
SolarReserve's partner on the Spain project, Madrid-based Preneal, is a development and construction company that specializes in wind and solar energy plants.
The Alcazar solar-thermal power project is set to break ground in 2010. It is expected to generate 750 construction jobs and 75 facility operation jobs, according to the companies.
Once fully operational, the plant is expected to generate over 300,000 megawatt-hours of electricity per year, roughly enough to power 70,000 Spanish homes.
SolFocus, a maker of concentrator photovoltaic systems, has signed a $103 million (80 euro) deal with Empe Solar, a Spanish group that promotes solar energy use.
SolFocus panels, made of mostly aluminum and glass, are 95 percent recyclable.
(Credit: SolFocus)Concentrator photovoltaic (CPV) systems typically use lenses and mirrors to concentrate light on solar cells to maximize the amount of electricity they can generate.
SolFocus plans to install over 10 megawatts of CPV systems across southern Spain for Empe Solar between now and 2010 as part of the deal.
SolFocus has already completed three utility-scale projects in Spain.
The 10-megawatt installation would collectively generate enough energy to supply a town of 40,000 residents, and eliminate 27,000 tons of CO2 emissions per year if used to replace traditional fossil fuel energy generators.
It's the largest deployment of concentrator photovoltaic solar energy systems in Europe so far, according to a joint statement from SolFocus and Empe Solar.
Sunny Spain is to be the recipient of $103 million worth of CPV systems between now and 2010.
(Credit: SolFocus)"Empe Solar seeks only the most innovative solutions to reduce electricity production costs for our customers. SolFocus has proven its technology's value in our region, and we are confident it will enable us to quickly achieve our cost targets for carbon-free energy," Empe Solar partners Eduardo Goicoechea and Sebastian Sagues said in a joint statement.
The other claim to fame SolFocus makes is that its CPV systems themselves, which primarily consist of aluminum and glass components, are kind to the environment since they are 95 percent recyclable.
But SolFocus is not the only company touting good news Monday for solar technology. Cool Earth Solar announced earlier it's rolling out its solar balloon prototypes over the next two weeks.
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