concentrating solar power

This document is a fact sheet from the Solar Energy Industries Association (SEIA). It provides information on Concentrating Solar Power (CSP).

This document was prepared in 2010 and describes the rush to gain traction in the solar thermal market in southwest of the United States.

There is an estimated 250,000 square miles of southwestern deserts deemed suitable for solar thermal development. It includes the driving factors for solar thermal, as well as plans previously discussed for development. There are also factors associated with solar thermal development like water usage and faulty energy reports that need to be addressed.

This report was prepared in February 2009 by Public Citizen, Environment Texas and Vote Solar. The document looks at the various factors and technology needed to not only supply Texas’ energy needs but make Texas a world leader in solar energy.

Three solar technologies are discussed; photovoltaic (PV), concentrating solar power (CSP) and solar water heaters. The report goes into detail discussing the different variations and advantages each technology possesses. Various charts and photos show applications and cost benefit analysis.

This report was prepared by David R. Mills and Robert G. Morgan.

The report talks about various ways the US can use the sun as an integrated renewable energy source to fully power the US electrical grid. The report also shows how STE (solar thermal electricity) is being used in different platforms and with the proper storage could be used to power a great majority of the US. A calculation provided in the report suggest that the cost of the STE option will be less than continuing to import oil as well as decrease our dependence on fossil fuels.

This report was put out in 2010 by Environment America Research & Police Center. The basis of this report is America’s potential and how the goal should be set to obtain 10 percent or more total energy consumption from the sun by 2030 using solar technology.

Technologies described to accomplish this include: concentrating solar power, solar water heaters, solar space heating/cooling, and passive solar design.

This report was arranged by Holly Campbell, Abby P. Metzger, Deidra Spencer, Stacey Miller and Erika Allen Wolters.

The document discusses the benefits offered from solar thermal plant vs. photovoltaic systems. The document also goes in-depth with a detailed cost-benefit analysis of the proposed building of Concentrating Solar Power (CSP) plants in the Mojave Desert.

This report was released by the National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) in 2003. It provides an overview of the Parabolic Trough model with details regarding performance, cost and economic assessment of design and technology variations.

They compare modeled parabolic trough numbers with actual outputs through cost models and performance models, as well as going over predictions and assumptions based off of their model.

This document was released by Clixoo Renewable Energy Research in 2009. It starts with a background on solar thermal and the different applications of solar thermal energy.

It also explains a solar thermal value chain, which breaks down the process of producing solar thermal systems, and the companies involved in the process. You can see a table of all system components and the materials it takes to make them.

This 2008 document provides an overview of the various software packages and codes that have been used to support Sandia National Laboratories’ CSP research activities. The report also looks into software programmes which have been developed by other institutions or companies.

The report looks into three CSP technologies i.e. power tower systems, linear concentrator systems and dish/engine systems. For each of the technologies, an assessment of the software is made based on a hierarchy for modeling complex systems.

This 2009 Technical Assistance (TA) report from the Asian Development Bank outlines the support the Asian Development Bank can give to China for, among other issues, the development of a road map for concentrating solar power demonstration and deployment in the Gansu Province. In addition, it also has as objective to disseminate the knowledge to other provinces in China.