Concentrated Solar Power Tower In Seville, Spain: The Future Of Electricity? (VIDEO)

"If you wanted to generate all the world's electricity, you could do it with less than 1% of the area of the world's desert." Gerry Wolff, Coordinator of Desertec, makes this statement in this video from the Guardian, "The Challenge Of Solar Power." But if Wolff is correct, why hasn't it been done yet?

Seville, Spain hosts the first commercial operation of solar tower technology in the world. According to the report, it features over 1,000 freestanding heliostat mirrors that follow the arc of the sun. In a process referred to as Concentrated Solar Power (CSP), the mirrors reflect solar rays to the tower, where water is boiled, and then steam is generated to drive a turbine, which in turn produces electricity. This electricity is sold to the national grid.

This is all possible because Spain's government has provided subsidies and incentives in support for the solar industry. Without government support, it's possible that the entire operation could not exist. That is because the upfront investment is huge, as most of the money goes into building the plant. The investor community tends to see solar plants as high risk.

But according to the video report, once economies of scale are achieved, solar power is one of the cheapest sources of energy. The report argues that it's hard to detect the value of solar power because currently, conventional sources of electricity are subsidized, artificially making them appear to be cheap. GOOD reports that "concentrated solar power... will be a core element of the transition from dirty coal to clean energy."

As Gus Schellekens of PricewaterhouseCoopers argues, "Solar has a huge role it can play, the fact that it's an endless supply of energy...the one thing that's needed to unlock much of that is the political leadership and will."

WATCH this innovative solar power tower:

Comments

[pvinverter]

05:31 AM on 02/17/2011

So why hasnt there been any initiative to take that 1% of dessert sun and use it for the world.

http://pv-inverter.us

[netzwerg]

11:13 AM on 02/17/2011

Here in Europe, there is. It's called Desertec, go figure: https://secure.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/wiki/Desertec

[No stinking fans]

11:40 AM on 02/17/2011

If there was a way to start a war for profit over it would have been done long ago.

[kubisiak5]

09:19 PM on 02/16/2011

Just bought stock in this company because of this article...ticker ABGOF for those of you who want to invest in a company doing some good!

[nothingchanges]

06:41 PM on 02/16/2011

I can remember a time, in our nation's not too distant past, when America lead the world in almost every technological field of endeavor.

Now we deride "socialist" governments, while we fall further and further behind.

[OhioStateFan]

08:29 PM on 02/17/2011

I agree. The right-wing radicals have taken over our country and have convinced the American people that anything government-funded is bad. Oh except of course for oil and coal subsidies. Apparently we're un-American if we oppose those!

[NHGranite]

06:18 PM on 02/16/2011

What is this with free? It's not in the product, it's in the delivery. Oil is right there under the ground. We don't make it. It's natural. Getting it to my house takes money. My guess is it is extremely profitable compared to actual cost to get it out of the ground, otherwise we'd have solar now.

[MJinCanada]

07:06 PM on 02/16/2011

Getting it out of the ground and refining it also costs money. The reason oil hasn't been ditched in favour of solar it that several hundred billionaires have a lot of investment tied up in oil leases and production and they want to squeeze every penny out of the ground before they switch technologies.

[kubisiak5]

09:20 PM on 02/16/2011

Yup MMhmmmm

[nitrokitty]

04:05 AM on 02/18/2011

You forgot the massive subsidies.

[Brian Grier]

04:25 PM on 02/16/2011

I will assume that none of you are aware of the solar plants that have been ONLINE in the southwestern United States for over two years. They use the sun to create a plasma out of sodium that then can be used to generate power for about 18-20 hours per day, before the sodium cools. They still need fossil fuel for those hours that it can not generate power, because those same hours correspond with the time of least air turbine power generation.

If this works for Spain, more power to them (pun intended).

[ThinkCreeps]

05:27 AM on 02/17/2011

The heat is stored in molten salt not sodium plasma.

Siemens will sell you a solar thermal salt storage system, to slot into your gas-turbine combined cycle plant. If you size and insulate the salt storage right, you can run 24 hours a day.

[DejzaVoo]

03:37 PM on 02/16/2011

So um. You can't do solar plants because it costs money up front to build the plant...

Nuclear Power:
Florida Power & Light informed the Florida Public Service Commission in December 2007 that their estimated the cost for building two new nuclear units at Turkey Point in South Florida was $8,000 per installed kW, or a shocking $24 billion. http://scitizen.com/future-energies/how-much-will-new-nuclear-power-plants-cost-_a-14-2287.html

Coal & Gas:
A conventional plant costs about $780 million to build, according to Bechtel...a comparable coal-gas plant would cost about $975 million. http://money.cnn.com/2004/10/18/news/economy/coal/

A single 100-megawatt power tower with 12 hours of storage needs only 1000 acres of otherwise non-productive land to supply enough electricity for 50,000 homes. Throughout the sunny Southwest, millions of acres are available with solar resources that could easily produce solar power at the scale of hydropower in the Northwest U. S. The first such plant would cost in the range of $100M.

So. The cheapest power plant we have right now at 780m... You could build seven and a half Solar power plants.

Right. BUT ITS SO EXPENSIVE!!!! :)

[Brian Grier]

04:35 PM on 02/16/2011

Just remember when you build a wind turbine generator you need to build a gas/coal/nuclear plant that can provide 70% of the wind turbine capacity. That ensures that when the wind dies the neighborhood/hospital does not go dark.

You need a source of power that does not require a gas/coal backup. And I think the European countries have the right idea, build more nuclear reactors.

[esquilax]

06:25 PM on 02/16/2011

Some of the best CSP designs have huge storage to shift production and/or produce power in the evenings. It's inexpensive to add storage, but the collector fields needs to increase. In the right locations it would be an extremely unusual event that prevents such a plant from producing power. Then the important concept becomes the design of the grid and mix of technology, ultimately with some gas/biochar backups certainly.

[MJinCanada]

07:09 PM on 02/16/2011

But remember that grids are now international. With the right mix of solar, wind, hydro, tidal and geothermal, it wouldn't be impossible to operate on all renewable eventually. I'm iffy on nuclear because it's so freaking expensive to build and you have to have stable geology.

[lowery2008]

03:22 PM on 02/16/2011

I live in Florida and always wonder why contraction companies do not provide options that put solar panels on the roof. Just a few of this panels would be enough to power the house and neighborhood. In Florida the sun is out for about 320 days of the year. If its included in the coast of the house than the coast isn't that great, its only when you have to put them up after the fact and basically rewire the house to work with the panels that the coasts really go up.

[Brian Grier]

04:38 PM on 02/16/2011

Until very recently the batteries such a system required were extremely expensive and needed to be changed every 5 years. Now the batteries are just expensive, and these systems are becomming less rare. In a few years the price point will be such that a true zero sum usage house will exist.

[SolarPowerGuy]

05:11 PM on 02/16/2011

Solar photovoltaic systems do NOT require batteries!

You can install a "grid tied" solar power system. When your home is generating extra power, it supplies power to the grid and spins your electric meter backwards. At night, you draw power from the grid.

Yes, this means you are not energy independent, and you are vulnerable during blackouts. And I know those concerns are important to many people, so they go off-grid. But don't think that you aren't doing plenty of good with a grid-tied system. Peak power demand on the grid comes on hot, sunny days. Your solar energy system can supply that demand.

[ThinkCreeps]

05:30 AM on 02/17/2011

Someone built a perfectly reasonable electricity distribution system. Take advantage of it.

[Pete Afrasiabi]

03:19 PM on 02/16/2011

***The parallels of computer technology with current solar electric technology***

Remember when the IBM PC came out and revolution¬ized the industry. Even though it was less efficient than a mainframe computer, it distribute¬d the computing power amongst millions effectively increasing overall productivity while invigorating the economy.

Solar energy is at the same stage at this point. With solar panel efficiency ratings approachin¬g the mid 20 percent, we can generate electricit¬y almost at the same rate of what the utility companies charge us (still not quite there) for mostly coal generated power. If we decentralize the power distribution to each individual home with heavy federal, state and local rebates (paid for with savings in NOT upgrading the electrical grid in a centralize¬d environment), we not only save on having to upgrade the aging power grid, each family of 4-5 with an average home of 2000 square feet can save upwards of $150 in savings every month in electricity usage.
Set aside the push it will provide to the economy, even if 50 percent of homes are south facing (towards the sun), this initiative alone can provide an enormous push to weaning us off carbon based electricity production and utilizes the remaining renewable energy sources to fill the gap.

Two Cal-tech researchers have recently come up with a way to increase efficiency of solar cells up to %40, while only using 10 percent of the silicon material.

I vote for decentralized power versus one that is centralized. Thoughts??

[MJinCanada]

07:12 PM on 02/16/2011

I don't know how it works in the US or even in all parts of Canada, but in my province, if you build a wind turbine or solar collector on your property, you can reduce your utility bill and sell the extra you generate (what you don't use) back to the grid.

[theprogressiveanalyst]

07:30 PM on 02/16/2011

You have seconded my thoughts. This solar plant in Spain, while a welcome advance, is old news. However, the future lies in decentralized, or at least, localized power. Here in Riverside Country, California, there are a number of large distribution warehouse which are putting solar panels on their roofs. If every building had solar panels/film, combined with advancing fuel cell technology as a supplement (a new product from Bloom Technology is now powering office buildings), the need for centralized generation and a large and inefficient grid would be greatly diminished. Often overlooked is that a lot of power is lost in transmission.

[gcogs]

02:22 PM on 02/16/2011

Everyone here should watch the video, which is MUCH more informative on many aspects of the debate. Click on "The Challenge of Solar Power" in the first paragraph.

[MJinCanada]

03:29 PM on 02/16/2011

Absolutely. It's fantastic.

And it really gets a person thinking about all those countries in Africa, Central America, etc. where people are trying to farm marginal lands. Set up solar energy farms instead, provide high-paying jobs running and guarding them (because there's always someone ready to make quick bucks on "salvage") and graze a few critters in the shade. The eventual income goes into health, education and infrastructure for economic growth all around.

[Prousa]

02:00 PM on 02/16/2011

The last sentence says it all.

[Greg Lyle]

01:23 PM on 02/16/2011

Before you get to excited by this type of project understand there are issues with AGW here as well.

Global surface temperatures are determined by a heat energy balance. It is very complicated and involves many dynamic variables, but basically it's heat in vs heat out. Heat reaches the surface from the Sun and from the interior of the planet, and it radiates away back into space. When the amount reaching the surface equals the amount radiating back to space the average surface temp remains unchanged.

This type of energy production collects heat energy from the Sun, much of which would have radiated back into space, and instead directs it into a colume of water. The heat is absorbed by the water which converts it to steam to drive the generators, it's then exhausted into the atmosphere as a green house gas...water. If we fill the deserts with mirrors and solar panels to collect heat how will this affect the heat balance?

I will offer no conclusions because I know my knowledge base is weak. The subject is very complicated, and we do not fully understand it.

[SolarPowerGuy]

02:53 PM on 02/16/2011

Yes, there's potentially an issue with absorbing extra heat. But to address your concerns, I would ask a few questions:

1) Aren't modern steam turbines generally closed-loop systems? You try not to exhaust your working fluids.

2) Adding greenhouse gases to the atmosphere also traps heat. How much greenhouse-gas emission can we eliminate using solar energy?

3) Building concentrating solar arrays on a patch of undeveloped desert is just one of several ways to generate solar energy. What about putting photovoltaic panels over existing asphalt, which is already dark in color and absorbing sunlight? Every parking lot (and rooftop) in Phoenix, Arizona is an opportunity crying out to be used.

[Greg Lyle]

03:50 PM on 02/16/2011

I have no informed answers to your questions, but I will say:

1) Good point. Condensing the steam and reusing the water avoids release, and is probably cheaper than pumping in more water. Probably is done that way.

2) I have no clue, however I'm not concerned about AGW. My interests in renewable energy is strictly based on being self sufficient and our need for a new economy. Fossil fuels were a great start towards solving many human problems. However it's dirty and limited, and it's time to begin an orderly move away from it. Actually it's way past time, but the interests have again driven us to the brink.

3) Yup, agreed. There are going to be a few empty parking lots around real soon. Good idea. I would love my roof covered in solar panels. However here in the Seattle area I can't make it make sense. I've tried. We don't get much wind here either, it's a good thing we have hydro.

My only point is there is no free lunch. Anything we do will have negative consequences. We should try to understand as many as possible.

[science teacher]

12:31 PM on 02/17/2011

Love the Arizona comment.

[MJinCanada]

03:37 PM on 02/16/2011

There's no reason to release the steam into the atmosphere with this sort of plant. Coal and oil fired plants also use steam power and they don't release it.

However, with solar powered plants, there is no release of carbon dioxide, which is another greenhouse gas. Nor will there be any of the toxic compounds which are found in coal.

Most of the energy hitting the mirrors would have been absorbed into the ground anyway. By diverting it into the power plant, it is being converted into electrical energy via steam. I don't think the earth is going to get any net increase in solar heating -- certainly no more heat energy than we put in by burning fossil fuels to heat our homes and run our vehicles.

[Greg Lyle]

05:26 PM on 02/16/2011

Yes the incoming heat would've been absorbed into the ground. However from there it radiates back into the atmosphere. What happens to the heat collected? Since now informed I agree the closed loop system retains most of the water. I assume radiators of some type cool the water, and then releases the heat into the atmosphere where it would have ended up anyway. I will add this to my long list of things to get up to speed on. This system might work very well.

Another interesting solar energy possibility is using concentrated solar light to crack hydrogen from water. Anyone know how this is progressing? If we figure out a way to cleanly and cheaply acquire H we can save my favorite passion...Hot Rods;)

[science teacher]

12:45 PM on 02/17/2011

We reflect, on average, 80% of the energy we receive from the sun back into space.

There is also heat radiating from the earth back into space (imagine a rock outside on a sunny day). This is what we have to worry about in terms of heat trapped by the green-house effect.

Reflection of direct solar radiation off of the surfaces of the earth (albedo) and the earth's own radiation of stored heat are the two primary processes of concern.

That's why global warming is of concern. Snow and ice (high albedo) reflect energy into space. The open waters of the oceans (low albedo) absorb and store energy. Greenhouse gases trap heat energy radiating from the earth.

We need all three of these acting in balance to maintain a consistent global climate. Disrupt the balance and you can expect climatic change.

[crayola 08b]

01:22 PM on 02/16/2011

while this is way cool i wouldn't be surprised if cold fusion had been successfully developed years ago and the world oilagarchies put a stop to it. oil will cease to be the dominate supplier of energy when the oil runs out and the oil companies switch to something else to make us dependent on.

[science teacher]

12:50 PM on 02/17/2011

I'm not so sure about cold fusion, but you're definitely spot on about oil companies. They're really in the "power" business as in "staying in power".The energy sector is probably the largest component of the world economy and they're not just going to dry up and blow away.

[Sennin]

01:09 PM on 02/16/2011

What the **** is this? I refuse to pay for solar energy. It is a natural right that all humans are born with. The Sun is priceless.

[Rachel O]

01:23 PM on 02/16/2011

Unless you're independently capable of photosynthesis, that sun isn't going to power your computer on its own....

[vinunleaded0301]

06:32 PM on 02/16/2011

funniest thing i've heard on this thread

[science teacher]

12:52 PM on 02/17/2011

Exactly.

Some people think you have a right to drive but you have to have access to a car for that to occur.

Good analogy.

[charles77]

04:37 PM on 02/16/2011

Then you won't get any.

[anti politricks]

01:05 PM on 02/16/2011

so if you combine these kinds of technology with the "death ray" featured in a huffpo article not long ago, it'd be great!

tesla, the sun, tides,....there has ALWAYS been LIMITLESS sources of FREE, HARMLESS energy......but we always stood by while others pimped out the earth to us.

[charles77]

01:25 PM on 02/16/2011

LOL, if you think this is "free" you need ro read the article again. They clearly state that it's cost are more than we currently pay!

You have to build the plant, then pay workers to run and maintain it.

And, reguardless of the urban myth, tesla NEVER proposed that his electricity was free. He was developing methods to transmit electricty, you still had to produce it with conventional sources then transmit it. And his methods of transmitting thru the air were both inefficient and dangerous. That is why we do not do it. Air can conduct electricity, think lightning, buts it is not nearly as efficient as wire.

[MJinCanada]

03:42 PM on 02/16/2011

Watch the video, "The Challenge of Solar Power" link in the first paragraph.

The up front costs are huge, but then it pays for itself because the annual input costs are much less.

Coal, gas, oil, nuclear and hydro are also subsidized and always have been. Look at the tax breaks oil producers get for exploration and development. You think Hoover Dam would have been built without government money? How many nuclear energy plants were built without government money?

[anti politricks]

01:03 PM on 02/16/2011

"If you wanted to generate all the world's electricity, you could do it with less than 1% of the area of the world's desert." .... But if Wolff is correct, why hasn't it been done yet?"

because no one can patent and pimp this free solar energy.

[science teacher]

12:53 PM on 02/17/2011

Apathy, complacence, inertia, politics, and ignorance also help.