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Solar Millennium decides to go with photovoltaic panels for the Blythe solar project in California, a sign that falling prices make solar PV more attractive to project developers. Read this blog post by Martin LaMonica on Green ...
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Another solar project developer has decided to scrap plans to use concentrating solar thermal technology for photovoltaic panels, such as these.
(Credit: First Solar ) Developers of the giant Blythe Solar Power Project in California have switched from solar thermal technology to photovoltaic solar panels, one of a string of similar changes at large-scale solar projects.
Solar Millennium today said that the first 500-megawatt phase of the Blythe plant will use photovoltaic (PV) panels because the economics work better.
The company earlier this year had received a conditional loan guarantee from the Department of Energy to develop a concentrating solar thermal plant, where heat from mirrored troughs makes steam that is passed through a turbine to generate electricity. But Germany-based Solar Millennium and its U.S. subsidiary said it will use commercial financing and PV technology instead.
Seven other utility-scale solar projects in the southwest U.S. have decided to scrap concentrating solar power (CSP) for PV. All told, that's about 2,515 megawatts of solar capacity that has converted, according to GTM Research analyst Brett Prior.
The moves underscore how falling costs have improved the competitiveness of PV for large-scale projects. Solar PV prices have fallen by more than 50 percent over the last two years, making them more attractive to both the energy developer and institutions putting up the money to finance these projects.
A few other large solar thermal projects in the pipeline will also likely go with PV technology, Prior said. "This is the first (technology change) where they explicitly said that that economics drove the decision," he said. The other proposed solar thermal projects switched to PV for different reasons. For example, one had planned to use a relatively new solar thermal technology which commercial banks were unwilling to provide loans to.
Solar Millennium hasn't yet chosen which technology it will use for the second half of the 1,000 megawatt project, which is projected to be the largest solar plant in the world. But the company said it remains committed to CSP in other countries. Solar thermal plants also have the ability to add storage using molten salt.
"The advantages of CSP as a grid-stabilizing renewable energy source with storage capabilities are obvious and highly valued by utilities elsewhere in the world. They will soon become systematically acknowledged in the US, as well. This includes the use of hybrid PV/CSP plants," CEO Christoph Wolff said in a statement.
SOLAR thermal has much better long term prospects than PV or GEOthermal. GT is obviously hard as hell to set up and pretty limited in location, if we even have anything that's reasonable beyond the concept stage. PV has a good power output but it requires large nasty batteries or other methods to store power and smooth out load spikes. Solar Thermal on the other hand is far more scalable and can conceivably continue to provide power at reasonable levels for even days of cloud cover.
If the contract states electricity from solar, and you can salvage cheaper solar PV from companies that are closing out, certainly you would switch to the one that makes more financial sense.
Indeed. Sadly I see this as a temorary growth spurt though, as companies like Evergreen solar and others only go out of business once. Once they're done, the cheap supply is gone with them.
The economics work better now, but in the long term, sadly, PV offers less potential for permanent, stable, grid level power output than Solar Thermal will be able to deliver.
A hybrid project would seem to offer the best of both worlds if you are building in 2 phases. I wonder if there is a long term trade off. Simple inexpensive storage of power through molten salt is a great value for the money spent but I'm sure a PV plant can probably be set up faster and obviously cheaper.
Instead of creating huge solar farms that waste land and resources, why not just put high effciency panels on top of every building in every City. The only reason power companies want to use farms is so they can continue to control access to energy, the very same thing they have done with other forms of energy. The technology has reached the point where we no longer need central power generation, but as usual human greed spoils every technological advance we make that could benefit all of us equally.
Solar panels proguce energy best when they are aimed dirrectly at the sun. Farms use a mounting system that makes sure the panels are pointed at the sun at all times. When placed on roofs they only get the most direct light at noon because they are placed flush with the roof because tracking systems can't easily be atached to roofs because every building is different. As far as putting them in every city, not all cities have adequate weather conditions or shadows from taller structures would make the panels produce little to no energy. The "wasted land" that farms are put on is desert land which has absolutely no use for humas besides solar farms. The land is flat, dry, and recieves no rain and little cloud cover. They use the desert because it is the perfect place for solar panels to get the most electricity. They don't do it for fun. Companies make decisions based on how inexpensively something can be done. The less expensive something is the more customers they can reach.
The people who plan these farms are some of the most tallented scientists in the country(read as smart). I really don't get why some people seem to think that all of these things are decided by some random dumb hillbilly that just said put it anywhere.
As far as benefiting people equally and controling the powergoes, there is no law keeping you from buying and puttuing them on your own home.
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