Sustainable, versatile, and affordable: the “T-Model” of CSP solutions
Solar Power Group
Of all renewable energies, each with their individual benefits and merits, the power of the sun offers by far the greatest potential. It may well be the single best resource to satisfy the ever-increasing energy demand worldwide.
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| Our Fresnel solar power plant, built by SPG partner MAN Ferrostaal |
The Solar Power Group (SPG) has developed a new and advanced concentrating solar power (CSP) technology in form of its Fresnel plant. The system has been designed for guaranteeing the highest efficiency of any Fresnel solar power plant on the market today at the cheapest investment costs possible – the “Ford Model T” of CSP solutions.
How it works
The physical principle of all CSP solutions is similar. Mirrors catch the direct sunlight and densely focus it on an absorber tube. Inside the tube is a medium which is heated to high temperatures. The thermal energy concentrated in the medium is used to produce steam. The steam can drive an ordinary turbine to generate electricity, or it can be used for other industrial applications.
The biggest advantage of CSP plants is that they have very low operating costs and simply no fuel costs. Nor do they emit CO2. The lower the initial investment, the more economically attractive a CSP plant becomes. But with the transition towards renewable energies in its infancy, concentrating solar power plants still require considerable initial investment.
In the design of the Solar Power Group’s Fresnel plant we have addressed this fundamental concern. By using flat mirrors and mainly mass manufactured components, all of which can be produced almost everywhere creating local added value, the costs of other CSP technologies have been avoided from the outset. In addition, the system has been designed for direct steam generation. Instead of using thermal oil and a heat exchange unit as most CSP plants do, our Fresnel plant generates steam directly from water, sparing another costly component. Most notably, our collector is the only Fresnel system on the market that can be operated at a temperature of 450°C and a pressure of up to 100 bar, allowing for increased plant efficiency. The greater the plant’s efficiency, the lower the costs of every kWh of electricity the plant generates.
The SPG Fresnel plant has versatile applications. Primary, of course, is the sustainable generation of electricity without CO2 emissions. But there are numerous other applications that can be accommodated. The plant can generate process steam for industrial use. Whole sectors rely on it: the food and textile industry, water treatment, metal and plastics treatment, and the chemical industry. Increasing interest is taken in generating steam with the system for the purpose of enhanced oil recovery - the steam flushes crude oil out of wells. (Aside from being used as fuel, oil is also an indispensable industrial raw material.) Producing process steam by burning fossil fuels is as expensive as it is ecologically harmful. Concentrating solar power is a viable alternative.
An issue of special importance for countries naturally rich in solar radiation – the whole region of Northern Africa, the Middle East and Australia, for instance – is water. Only a few of these countries have freshwater reserves in sufficient amounts. Therefore they overexploit their groundwater resources or rely on seawater desalination. But conventional desalination plants require vast amounts of energy which causes economical and environmental concern. The SPG Fresnel collector again presents a viable alternative as it can accommodate solar thermal desalination in various ways and on various scales, while reducing CO2 emissions by 99% in the process.
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| SPG Fresnel solar power plant in Almeria, Spain |
Cooling on solar
A further Fresnel application is found in solar cooling. It is possible to generate process steam with our Fresnel collector and use it for heating in the winter as well as for cooling with an absorption chiller during the hot months of the summer. Considering that, in some urban centres in the sun belt, 80% of consumed electricity is used for air conditioning and refrigeration, the full potential of our Fresnel solution becomes obvious. Coincidentally, most countries that require a lot of energy for cooling have excellent solar radiation and are ideally suited for all types of concentrating solar power applications.
Finally, our Fresnel collector has a unique capacity for hybridisation. It is possible to build new integrated solar hybrids with the collector as well as to retrofit existing conventional power plants. Depending on what is best, the retrofitted Fresnel solar field can increase the overall plant efficiency or help to maintain the same level of efficiency while using less fossil fuel.
All of these areas of applications have one common base. They replace fossil fuels sustainably and cut CO2 emissions to virtually zero. At the Solar Power Group we believe the transition towards renewable energies and sustainable energy generation is going to be the only way forward and that it presents major business opportunities. The entire industry sector is growing and now has reached a new scale of cost-effectiveness for solar thermal power plants.
Solar Power Group
W: www.solarpowergroup.com
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