Solar thermal power is considered an important step towards developing large scale sources of clean electricity, but within this sector there are some very distinct applications of the technology.  Bright Source Energy, with offices in Oakland, California, and Tel Aviv, Israel, is building next generation “power tower” solar thermal power plants.

The power tower.
(Photo: Bright Source Energy)

The stated advantages of [...]

Which of these solutions is more space efficient? 
If you assume 5.0 watts (peak) per square foot for thin film photovoltaic, you end up requiring 4.6 acres per peak megawatt-hour (MWp), about the same as Nevada Solar One’s solar thermal farm (4.7 acres per MWp). Thin film PV panels now have a factory cost of about [...]

Finally a design that could work on flat roofs that combines an efficient heat collection plumbing with 2-axis motion for the concentrators.  Heliotron Energy from Greece has a design that puts an array of single-axis concentrators onto a rotating turntable, which gives the concentrators 2-axis capability.
Each concentrator is about one square foot in size, and they each [...]

We occasionally get press releases from a group known as Trans-Mediterannean Renewable Energy Cooperation (TREC) or TREC UK, visionary proponants of massive development of solar concentrators combined with large scale new HVDC (high voltage direct current) transmission corridors.

Parabolic solar thermal collectors (2 axis).
(Photo: TREK UK)

According to pro-TREC sources, an area of 254 kilometers x 254 kilometers of hot desert, if covered with [...]

Although it’s been operating since June 2007, today Acciona dedicated their 64 megawatt solar thermal plant in Boulder City, Nevada. According to the Chairman of Acciona, José Manuel Entrecanales, the plant cost $260 million and will operate for several decades.  The plant is rated to produce 64 megawatts in full sun and is expected to [...]

No survey of utility scale solar thermal power companies is complete without mention of Solel Solar Systems Ltd., headquartered in Israel with operations in Spain and the USA.  In December 2007 Solel’s purchase power agreement (PPA) with Pacific Gas & Electric Co. was approved by California’s Public Utility Commission for a solar thermal plant with 553 [...]

The sporadic nature of renewable energy, wind and solar in particular, poses a great challenge to wider adoption.  Storage systems, even in stationary applications, are not sufficently developed.  But rather than depending on creating a massive battery industry to facilitate a decentralized electricity grid reliant on wind and solar sources, why not develop thermal storage?  [...]