Turning Glare Into Watts

[groovedaddy]

BOULDER CITY, Nev. — At first, as he adjusted pumps and checked temperatures, Aaron Boucher looked like any technician in the control room of an electrical plant. Then he rushed to the window and scanned the sky, to check his fuel supply.

Mr. Boucher was battling clouds, timing the operations of his power plant to get the most out of patchy sunshine. It is a skill that may soon be in greater demand, for the world appears to be on the verge of a boom in a little-known but promising type of solar power.

It is not the kind that features shiny panels bolted to the roofs of houses. This type involves covering acres of desert with mirrors that focus intense sunlight on a fluid, heating it enough to make steam. The steam turns a turbine and generates electricity.

The technology is not new, but it is suddenly in high demand. As prices rise for fossil fuels and worries grow about their contribution to global warming, solar thermal plants are being viewed as a renewable power source with huge potential.

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/03/06/business/06solar.html?th&emc=th

[drmeow]

1. Hmmm - I was planning on putting solar panels

on my roof next year. I read about the AZ plant but at the time this question didn't occur to me ... I wonder if this technology can be adapted for/used in single family dwellings?

[Tesha]

3. The trouble with small-scale applications of this technology...

The trouble with small-scale applications of this technology
is that it requires focusing collectors which must be steered
throughout the day and throughout the seasons to track the
sun.

The tracking mechanism tends to be be somewhat unreliable,
especially across the years.

By comparison, flat plate solar heat collectors and flat
photovoltaics have no such steering mechanism; they just
sit at some pretty-optimal angle and do their thing, year
after year after year.

Tesha

[OKIsItJustMe]

5. Of course, for greater efficiency, solar panels are made to track as well

http://www.google.com/search?q=solar+panel+tracking

Although most people don't do this domestically.

[kristopher]

9. There is one out there.

Read about it maybe 4 years ago. mirrors are driven by printer moters with a simple sensor for aiming.

I seem to recall it was about 250 watts for about $1 a watt.

It was aimed at use w/ battery for lighting off grid.

[OKIsItJustMe]

4. The short answer is "No"

The longer answer is "not today" and you probably won't want to, when you can.
http://www.infiniacorp.com/main.php

[drmeow]

6. I didn't really think so. n/t

[ConcernedCanuk]

7. My neighbor is totally solar, - off grid with about 1,000 watts worth of panels - manual tracking.

.
.
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By manual tracking I mean he moves the panel array according to where the sun is, or where he knows it will be in the morning.

A cement base, similar to that for a lamp post is fitted with two steel tubes, one inside the other resting on a bearing.

Sorta looks like a periscope setup - with handles to rotate the solar panel array at the top to the desired position.

Locking pins are set at what would be approximately 2 hour spacings.

It is only 5 feet from his main entrance, and whenever he or his wife pass by, check the sun, and rotate it by hand accordingly.

At the end of the day, they set it for sunrise to get maximum sun.

They set it up this way 10 years ago, NEVER had a hydro connection - used generators for necessary hydro when building the place.

They now have two large refrigerators, one freezer, and every other electrical convenience they want, but NO heat source other than wood.

Water they pump by hand into a 5000 gal tank uphill from the house - so water in the house is gravity fed from the buried tank, which is an old tank off of a milk-truck - stainless steel.

100 pumps a day each, and they never run out.

There's more - like growing much of their own food, recycling/borrowing/sharing tools such as roto-tillers - trailers.

These people have it down pretty pat IMO.

If interested on more detailed details, ask in this thread, or PM me.

I will reply.

[drmeow]

8. Here in AZ I can put up a system

that generates enough power for the electrical company to buy it back from me - the meter actually runs backwards - without even rotating. I've got a broad expanse of south, southwest, and southeast facing roof to put it on. The barriers have been 1) I've only just convinced my husband to do it, 2) I've had other far more pressing home improvement needs (like creating a functioning kitchen), and 3) this year the conversion of the lawn to desert landscaping is a bigger priority. Depending on how much the lawn costs and how much the state and power company rebates are, we may do it this year after all.

[OKIsItJustMe]

2. Join the discussion

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_mesg&forum=115&topic_id=137270&mesg_id=137270