The world's first solar hybrid power plant is set to open on June 24 at Kibbutz Samar outside Eilat in southern Israel. When operating at full capacity, the flower-like AORA plant will supply 100 kilowatts of electric power--enough for 70 households--and 170 kilowatts of solar thermal energy. AORA's strucutre is based on technology developed at Israel's Weizmann Institute of Science.
The modular, scaleable plant is made up of 30 mirrors (heliostats) that track the sun and direct it to a 30 foot tall tower, which heats up the energy to 1000 degrees Celsius and directs it to a 100-kilowatt gas turbine that feeds solar power to the grid. The microturbine can be run on solar thermal, biodiesel, natural gas, and biogas.
Since the plant is hybrid, it could theoretically power off-grid systems in developing communities. And since it only takes up half an acre of land, the plant could be used in areas that lack space. As of right now, though, AORA hasn't reached any deals with other countries for solar hybrid power plant distribution.
[AORA via Environmental Protection]
Related Stories: | Topics:Innovation, Technology, Ethonomics, flower power, aora, solar, hybrid, israel, eilat, kibbutz, solar concentrator, Science and Technology, Technology, Energy Technology, Israel, Electricity Generation |
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Recent Comments | 4 Total
June 13, 2009 at 12:56pm by Matt Urquhart
Great idea; compact-ness and simple design lead to relatively low cost.
Few questions though (I'm a mechanical engineering student in Canada): heating the fuel would reduce its capacity to do work (increasing temperature reduces density, meaning less fuel goes into the turbine and less power is produced); most liquid fuels would vapourize above 1000C (or combust?). To me, this would make more sense if the mirrors directed light to heat water and steam was pushed through the turbine. As the steam expands through the turbine, it cools and condenses back to water, so you can close the loop and use the same water over and over through the cycle. Then you could use biodiesel, nat. gas or biogas to power an auxiliary turbine...
Really cool idea though. Check this one out too: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Solar_Project
June 15, 2009 at 9:56am by Gary Stafford
Fantastic! It's great to see such revolutionary ideas becoming reality in our lifetime, for our benefit and the benefit of our children. It would be encouraging to see such developments built here in the US.
June 29, 2009 at 9:40pm by Mike Smith
These new types of solar collector show us that there's more to gain from solar power than we might think. Even though I doubt this solar tulip will transform the way we see solar energy, I think it is this kind of project that is a prelude of what is to come.
Exciting industry for sure!