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ning to deploy the storage technology: SoIarReserve is building a plant in Nevada set to start u;l next year and BrightSource plans three plants in California to begin thousands of households.

operations in 2016 and 2017. The four projects are expected to power tens oI

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going to matter in the United States - that is, generate a significant portion of electricity - the industry must overcorle a major str-rnrbling block: finding a way to store it for use when the sun is not shining.

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,, If solar energy is eventually

That cl-ra1lenge seems to be cleating an

opening for a different form of power, so Iar thermal, which makes electricity by using tl-re snn's heat to boil water. 'fhe water carr be rrsed to heat salt that stores the energy until later, when the srur clips ancl hor-rseholds powel up their appliances ancl air-conditionins.

Whether the technology will be widely adopted remains to be seen, but companies like Google, Chevron and Good Energies are investing in it. In Singapore, the technology couid be difficult to adapt, said Mr Peter Husnik, CEO of Solid Asia, an Austrian company specialising in solar energy projects. He said it was unclear if the technology was suitable for tropical ciimatcs. "We do not recommend it becar-rse it is new, reqr-rires high maintenance ancl is expensive," he told The Straits 'l'imes. I)r Xrr Rono- essoli:rf c nrofessor of rp-

on a tall tower

Sunlight is concentrated and directed from a large field of heliostats (mirrors) to a receiver

salt r is stored in the : hot tank ,,*_-xrytY.-q-?glryy1

The heated

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. from the receiver

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Molten salt is pumped from the hot tank through a steam generator that creates steam, which drives a steam turbine, generating electricity Conventional steam turbine generator (with reheat)

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Electricity (MW)

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storage tank

Hot salt thermal storage tank

Cold salt at 288

degree C flows

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back to the cold salt tank and is re-used

Source: SolarReserve

wer even after sunset

medical Engineering at Nanyang Technological University, said thaf although the technology was not complicated, Singapore did not'have enough land or surfice areas to harness the solar heat at a sufficient scale to make the process economic.
can provide more capacity," he added.

and more traction with the fact that we

proelectricity directly from sunlight. _du-ce When the panels ramp down at dusl or

be to complement solar panels, which

One crucial role of the US plants

will

generate

agree: Last September, it gave SolarRe_ serve a US$737 million (59957 million) loan guarantee for its project which wili

The Energy Department seems to

As the grid starts depending heavily on solar panels it will need other energy

on cloudy days, the plants

will crank up.

BrightSource plants

enough heat to run for l0 hours when the sun is not shining. The SolarReserve and

ll0MW at peak and store

will use computer-

nomics are. The simplest, least e*pensive path for solar thermal is to turn the heat into electricity immediately. But the companies are like a farmer wlo harvests the grain and stores it in a silo rather than shipping it straight to market on the expectation that prices will be higher later. when the energy is delivered will be more important than the amount generated. _ Electricity prices usually peak in the late'afternoon and evening in summer. But the new price peak will be pushed back, to just before and after s.,ns.t. The companies would not discuss capital costs but Mr Smith said the storige technology came to less than 5 per cent 6f capital costs and that utility fiim Southern California Edison would pay extra for
.

fhpl

expect that

in revenue terms,

more or wind turbines,

sources that can

many kilowatt-hours of .ene.,i"ble .rrergy as they can to meet stiffer state requirements on incorporating more alternative energy, said Mr Kevin Smith, the chief executive of SolarReserve.

step in quickly to balance the system. Most utilities are trying to generate as

store more heat than water can. The tech-

ventional turbine and generator. BrightSource heats water that can be used at once as steam or to heat salt for storase. The plants rely on salt because it Jan

operated poster-size mirrors aiming sunIight at a tower that absorbs it as h-eat. The SolarReserve plant then absorbs the heat in molten salt, which can be kept for later use or used immediatelv to boil water, generating steam that turns a con-

a plant that could deliver when the sun was not shining.