Remote Queensland town welcomes solar farm (Oz)

[jpak]

http://abc.net.au/news/stories/2007/07/26/1989070.htm

In remote western Queensland, the town of Windorah is about to become one of Australia's greenest communities, with the construction of the state's first solar farm.

Five solar dishes, each 14 metres in diameter, will generate enough electricity to power the small community during daylight hours.

It seems this is just the start of Australia's awakening to renewable energy sources, which experts say have been 'going gangbusters' overseas.

Power company Ergon Energy plans to start building the five solar dishes in Windorah in September.



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[phantom power]

1. what is at the focal point of those collectors?

some kind of high-intensity PV, or is it thermal?

[phantom power]

2. never mind, it's high intensity PV.

[kestrel91316]

3. What is "high-intensity PV"?

......and why don't we have square MILES of it?????

[jpak]

4. Concentrating PV - the mirrors focus light on a small high efficiency PV modules

Conversion efficiencies for these systems are ~40%.

And yes, why don't we have square miles of these things????

:hi:

[kestrel91316]

5. 40%??????? Jeebus H. Christ. Who makes them? Where can I get some????

[jpak]

6. Spectrolab makes 'em...

http://www.physorg.com/news99904887.html

Scientists from Spectrolab, Inc., a subsidiary of Boeing, have recently published their research on the fabrication of solar cells that surpass the 40% efficiency milestone—the highest efficiency achieved for any photovoltaic device. Their results appear in a recent edition of Applied Physics Letters.

Most conventional solar cells used in today’s applications, such as for supplemental power for homes and buildings, are one-sun, single-junction silicon cells that use only the light intensity that the sun produces naturally, and have optimal efficiency for a relatively narrow range of photon energies.

The Spectrolab group experimented with concentrator multijunction solar cells that use high intensities of sunlight, the equivalent of 100s of suns, concentrated by lenses or mirrors. Significantly, the multijunction cells can also use the broad range of wavelengths in sunlight much more efficiently than single-junction cells.

"These results are particularly encouraging since they were achieved using a new class of metamorphic semiconductor materials, allowing much greater freedom in multijunction cell design for optimal conversion of the solar spectrum," Dr. Richard R. King, principal investigator of the high efficiency solar cell research and development effort, told PhysOrg.com. "The excellent performance of these materials hints at still higher efficiency in future solar cells."

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[Nihil]

10. That's really smart

The large reflective panels are comparatively cheap & simple to make
whilst the hi-tech expensive bit is the module at the focal point
(plus a bit of standard converter/controller stuff).

This makes far more sense for remote installations than having to
transport entire panels without damage and the increased efficiency
is very welcome.

*This* is where solar PV comes into its own in the developed world:
the isolated rural communities currently depending on diesel generators
(whose fuel consumes fuel to get there!) not for the cities with their
gross inefficiency & wasteful lifestyles.

I have always maintained that the *best* use of solar PV is to bring
(LED/CF) light to rural third-world villages that either burn oil lamps
or do without at the moment but this is a good second string to its bow.

:applause:

[phantom power]

7. remember, to get the 40%, you have to have the collector too.

Not the sort of thing that installs on a rooftop, but I assume you could put it on a lawn, if its light is unobstructed.

Somebody sells a concentrating PV installation that has a flat form factor, for rooftops. I don't think it achieves 40%. 30% comes to mind.

[jpak]

8. You can put them on your rooftop

The Rebirth of Concentrating Photovoltaics

http://www.renewableenergyaccess.com/rea/news/story?id=46295

[Bread and Circus]

9. Look at that environment devastation! OMG!!! That's going to wreck their town...

please someone for the sake of god and all that's holy build a nuclear power plant in their town and a nuclear waste dump in their backyard to save them from those evil, icky mirrors!!!

The horrors of solar energy folks! Don't say you weren't warned.