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November 08, 2006

Comments

david foster

An attractive feature of thermal-solar would seem to be its inherent storage capability. Does anyone have any insight as to how well this works--ie, can the molten salt store enough energy to provide the full plant output throughout the hours of darkness?

Jeff Becker

With molten salt storage, capacity is determined by the size of the tanks. So, yes, it is technically feasible to build a tanks big enough for 24/7 operation of a solar thermal power plant. Obviously, the collectors need to be big enough to both operate the plant during the day and heat the molten salt for operation during the night.

Whether this is economical depends on a lot of factors, such as the cost of the bigger collectors and storage system, the value of the off-peak power produced, and the availability of other sources of power during that time.

Some references:
http://www.sandia.gov/Renewable_Energy/solarthermal/NSTTF/salt.htm

http://www.greenpeace.org/raw/content/international/press/reports/Concentrated-Solar-Thermal-Power.pdf

http://solar1.mech.unsw.edu.au/glm/clfr/stanwell_clfr.pdf

http://www.earthscan.co.uk/news/article/mps/uan/642/v/3/sp/

david foster

Thanks, Jeff.

t. wilkinson

I would like to know if Solel is traded on the stock market and if so what is the symbol.

c barnaby

I would like to know if Solel is traded on the stock market and if so what is its symbolc

gman

as far as i can tell, Solel is not publically traded. I cannot find any solar thermal power plant company that trades pubically. one way to play it is manufacturers of components, which i have found Schott who makes the mirrors but is not available to trade here. I think this blows away PV and wish i could find a way to invest in it. maybe keep a news alert on Asura, Brightsource, and Solel to see if they announce an IPO.

ManBearPig

as far as i can tell, Solel is not publically traded

Don DeGrazia

I also am looking for a publicly traded solar thermal stock. Does anyone know of any? If you do, please email me and I will reciprocate by sending you any new information that I discover. Thanks.

Shashidhar

Does anyone have info on the manufacture of solar UVAC tubes? Cost. sophistication etc..

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