Solar Texas 2010: Genuinely profitable solar power towers built with local industry
Keywords: solar power tower, storage
Abstract:The solar power tower is a proven technique for supply of electric power, though existing commercial plants are usually limited by high costs and lack of storage. This presentation outlines the approach to build a cost effective, high efficiency power tower with storage which can operate profitably without subsidies. The combination of storage and high efficiency makes the plant a “good grid neighbor”, supplying highly predictable capacity, while also mitigating the problems inherent with large wind generation capacity on the existing grid. The plant is designed around a combination of proven technologies not yet deployed in the renewable energy field. The equipment required to implement this plant may be readily sourced from the industrial base within the Texas energy industries.