Morocco shows Africa's solar power potential

Africa has excellent solar insolation values throughout the almost entire continent, but not much has been done to harness this tremendous solar power potential.

Things will perhaps change in not so distant future with Morocco showing the way how to done things. Morocco is now the home to the world's largest concentrated solar power plant, Noor, CSP, that should, once fully operational, provide enough power for 1.1 million people, offsetting 760,000 tons of carbon emissions a year.

Morocco is pioneering large solar power projects in Africa, and this project could even  export renewable energy to European Union in years to come.

This project does not only mean more clean energy and less carbon emissions, it should also provide new jobs (around 1800 new jobs), enhance country's energy security and independence, and give other countries the right example to follow on.

This solar power plant will be able to store solar energy in form of heated molten salt, which allows electricity production even during the night, thus solving the solar energy intermittency issue.

The current capacity of Noor, CSP is approximately 160 MW. By the end of 2018 total capacity is expected to grow to more than 500 MW, providing enough power for 1.1 million people.

Morocco's progressing clean energy goal is to have 42% of its energy coming from renewable energy sources by 2020. This solar project will play the biggest role in achieving this goal.

Read more...

Time to install solar systems has finally come

Solar power is more popular than ever before, and now might be the best time for homeowners and businesses to install solar panels. The costs to install solar systems have fallen sharply in recent times. There is also an overwhelming support among general public to go for more clean energy with solar being the most preferred option of them all.

The interest rates for solar systems are fairly low, and after 2016, a federal tax credit of 30 percent of the cost of solar system will decline to ten percent, raising up the price of solar systems by an average of $3,600 more. In raw numbers, this adds five years to the time in which the system would pay for itself.

The prices of installing rooftop solar systems have been constantly declining while on the other hand the cost-effectiveness of solar systems is increasing, making solar power installations a viable economic option for many homeowners.

Switching to solar energy is no longer just a fashionable go-green option, it has also become a good way to save your money on the long run. It has been reported that thanks to rebates and incentives the cost of solar power has been reduced on average by 50.5 percent in the first half of 2015.

You don't have to buy if you don't have to. There is a growing number of companies that offer a leasing option. Combine this with federal, state, city and local tax incentives, and there should be a significant amount of money saved, especially on the long run.

The leasing option is popular option across the many U.S. states,  mostly because people are used to paying in a monthly fashion. This combined with fixed monthly rate gives consumers predictability, and that is something any homeowner wants.

There are plenty of reasons to go for solar energy so why not pay money now to save money on the long run?

Read more...

Energy storage is the right solution for solar intermittency

Many energy experts agree that intermittency is one of the biggest, if not the biggest of all, drawback of solar power. As you already know Sun doesn't shine all day long and thus can't provide electricity at evenings and nights.

This used to be true for all solar power plants but not anymore. For the first time ever, one commercial solar power plant in Spain, has been able to solve this issue. Spain's Gemasolar solar power plant has been designed to store enough heat to operate for 18 hours at full capacity without any additional power from the Sun.

We are not talking here about the large solar power plant, Gemasolar power station, in fact, has a capacity of relatively modest 20 MW, which should be enough to power approximately 25,000 of average Spanish households.

The working principle of this solar power plant is not that complicated. There are 2,650 mirrors, which cover an area of 185 hectares. These mirrors train the Sun's rays onto a central tower, where they heat molten salt to more than double the boiling point of water.

Using this principle results in more produced heat for maximum power, and with it the additional heat is stored in molten salt tanks until it can be used during cloudy periods or at night.

Using molten salt tanks as an energy storage solution is certainly one of the more noticeable designs to store solar energy and thus solve its intermittency problem. The well known organization Desertec has awarded this plant and labelled the design of this solar power plant as "a pioneer for future power stations".

This plant has been operational for three years now, working in summer and winter as well, and showing the benefits of this new energy storage technology. 

Concentrated solar power plants across the globe could use the advantages of this design and store the excess of heat in molten salts which can later be used to supply power on demand, when the power is needed the most.

Read more...

CSP technology is the solution for solar to achieve cost parity with fossil fuels?

Solar energy should become vital part of US energy future. The best proof to this was the Department of Energy's SunShot Initiative in February 2011 that has aim to reduce the installed cost of solar energy systems by about 75 percent in order for solar energy to achieve cost parity with traditional energy sources.

The SunShot Initiative wants solar energy to achieve cost parity with fossil fuels (without subsidies) by 2020. This is certainly a demanding mission which calls for major technological and scientific innovations.

The researchers such as Ranga Pitchumani at the Virginia Tech believe that best solution for solar energy to achieve cost parity with fossil fuels is to focus on concentrating solar power (CSP). The basic principle of this technology is fairly simple and involves using mirrors to reflect and concentrate sunlight to produce heat, which can then be used to produce electricity.

The main advantage of  CSP technology as compared to photovoltaics is that this technology enables the storage of the sun's energy as thermal energy. Several studies have showed that CSP technology with thermal energy storage makes it lot easier for other renewable energy sources such as wind and photovoltaic to be incorporated into the grid.

Solar energy is intermittent energy source because Sun doesn't shine all the time meaning that storing thermal energy from a concentrating solar power plant for use on demand is in fact very favorable, and could become one of the top solution to solve the intermittency of solar energy.

With more research CSP technologies could lead to low-cost energy generation and might even end the dominance of fossil fuels by replacing it as the leading source of energy for future power generation.

Read more...