Green Options » concentrated solar

Concentrated Solar Power Could Generate 25% of the World’s Electricity by 2050

Ariel Schwartz — Fri, 29 May 2009 02:23:54 +0000

A new study from Greenpeace, the European Solar Thermal Agency, and the International Energy Agency’s SolarPACES Group has shown that concentrated solar power (CSP) could generate a quarter of the world’s energy needs by 2050–and create thousands of new jobs and prevent millions of tons of CO2 from being released.

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SolFocus Installing World’s Largest Concentrated Solar Project in Spain

Ariel Schwartz — Tue, 04 Nov 2008 00:55:59 +0000

Earlier today, concentrated solar company SolFocus announced that it has signed a deal to install over 10 MW of its systems in Spain for EMPE Solar. Upon its completion in 2010, the $103 million, multi-site project will be the largest concentrated solar deployment in the world. SolFocus estimates that the project will be able to meet the domestic energy requirements of 40,000 homes.

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Morgan Solar: Simple, Cheap, and Efficient Concentrated Solar Tech, Part 2

Ariel Schwartz — Thu, 18 Sep 2008 01:06:33 +0000

A few weeks ago, I posted a brief introduction to Morgan Solar, a Toronto-based start-up that has invented a new method for building simple and cheap solar concentrators. Many of you asked for more details, so I asked Nicolas Morgan, the company’s Director of Business Development, some in-depth questions about Morgan Solar.

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McCain’s Nuclear Energy Plan May Cost $315 Billion

Dana Nuccitelli — Fri, 12 Sep 2008 01:11:33 +0000

According to a Bloomberg analysis, John McCain’s plan to revive the U.S. nuclear power industry with 45 new reactors may cost $315 billion, with taxpayers bearing much of the financial risk.

The Republican presidential nominee expects a 29% increase in electricity demand by 2030, and wants 45 new nuclear power plants built by then. Industry estimates put their cost at $7 billion each.

The Energy Information Administration estimated last year that adding nuclear power capacity would cost $2,143 a kilowatt (kW) before financing and inflation. That compared with $1,434 to $2,302 for clean-coal technologies.

Over the past year, the expense has more than doubled to $5,000 a kilowatt, or $7 billion for a typical reactor, utility filings and company statements show. The increase in part reflects rising prices for commodities such as steel and cement.

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New Concentrated Solar Tech: Simple, Cheap and Efficient

Ariel Schwartz — Thu, 04 Sep 2008 19:41:44 +0000

Morgan Solar, a Toronto-based company launched last summer, believes it has the answer to creating simple and cheap solar concentrators.

While other companies are working to make solar cheaper by using mirrors or lenses to magnify sunlight that is directed into solar cells, Morgan Solar takes a different approach. Their system uses a thin sheet of acrylic to concentrate sunlight 750 times. The sunlight is directed to a tiny cell on the edge of the plastic, greatly reducing the amount of material needed.

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