L R AS Published on Monday 14 February 2022 - n° 393 - Categories:hubs
Finally, concentrated solar energy would be very useful.
Finally, concentrated solar power would be useful.
The US company NREL has a goal of achieving a cost of $0.05 per kWh (approximately the cost of energy from crystalline panels).
Concentrated Solar Power (CSP) uses heliostatic mirrors to direct sunlight into a collection tower. The tower stores the heat
in abundant media, such as rock, sand, molten salt or gas for highly available energy distribution. High-temperature and available energy is a key element in the operation of many industrial processes and machines
Molten salts are a desirable option for heat transfer and storage, as they are easy to work with and can be pumped through pipes and heat exchangers. However, they are also corrosive to tanks and pipes. "We have actually solved this problem for the most part. NREL and its partners have done a lot of scientific work on the chemistry of salts. On the one hand, it opted for chloride salts because they are more stable at extreme temperatures. On the other hand, corrosive impurities must be removed from the molten salts.
Solar photovoltaics and energy storage are excellent for providing reliable electricity, but some industrial processes require high heat or large amounts of available energy. This has led to the development of CSP technology, and other technologies, which are already commercially successful.
https://www.pv-magazine.com/2022/02/11/next-gen-concentrated-solar-power-now-under-development/
PV Magazine of 11 February 2022
Editor's note The big advantage of concentrated solar power is that the system retains heat for many hours and replaces the need for batteries to provide power at night.
