Perth-based Hyperion Energy is currently seeking regulatory approvals to build a 200 megawatt Solar Updraft Tower (SUT) on 127,000 hectares surrounding the township of Tuckanarra, in the Midwest region of Western Australia. Hyperion says the 1,000m high tower, if it was built today, would be the tallest structure in the world.

A spokesperson for the company says a huge advantage of the groundbreaking technology is that SUTs do not rely on the sun shining all the time to generate electricity, with the Midwest site able to produce power 24 hours a day every day of the year.

“When the sun is not shining, there is still enough heat retained under the big collector panels to keep the turbines moving,” he says.

“When most people think of solar they think of panels on a roof, whereas this is quite different. The technology uses what is effectively a very tall chimney using the principle of heat rising to create an updraft that forces the turbines to turn and generate electricity”.

Central to the project is a 1,000 metre high tower surrounded by a collector membrane and panels at the base, that uses the sun’s energy to warm the air underneath the canopy. This warm air rises through the tower, turning the blades of 32 turbines within the shaft.  During the night, heat stored in the ground during the day is released to keep the turbines in motion.

Managing Director Dallas Dempster says with an average annual horizontal solar radiation of 2300MJ/m2, the uninhabited terrain is ideally suited to the construction of SUTs and will help fuel a range of resource projects planned for the midwest.

“This plant will provide a sustainable, environmentally-friendly way to generate baseload power for Western Australia…in an area with the highest solar radiation levels in Australia,” he says.

While the project is a first for Australia, Hyperion says the technology is proven following a recent feasibility study to assess the viability of selected sites for SUTs in WA, including the topography, meteorology, soil conditions and earthquake loads.

Hyperion says the approval stage should be completed by the end of 2012 with a 24-30 month construction stage to commence in 2014.

Written by Aaron Fernandes Friday, 27 January 2012

Original source: click here

There’s not a huge demand for QuickerTek’s solar photovoltaic chargers for Apple MacBooks, said QuickerTek’s president Rick Estes.

“But when someone needs it, they really need it,” Estes said.

QuickerTek produces two versions of its foldable PV solar array for Mac computers called the Apple Juicz. The 27-watt setup works for most MacBook users, according to the company’s press release. A 55-watt array is also available for those MacBook users who use more power and need faster charging times.

QuickerTek announced the release of its newest version of the Apple Juicz solar chargers this week, just a few weeks after Apple rolled outs third generation MacBook Air. The new chargers are configured specifically for the newest versions of the computers.

QuickerTek is the only company that produces solar chargers that are compatible with Apple’s laptops, Estes said. The chargers can be used to power other devices. But QuickerTek has contracted with Mac to buy its patented magnetic power supply connections.

Apple’s laptops feature power cords that attach to the computers magnetically, allowing them to detach without hurting the computer or the cord when someone trips over it or inadvertently walks away with a laptop that is still plugged in.

The technology has been a boon to Apple, but it’s also made it difficult for manufacturers to mass produce power supplies for the computers.

“The PV charges evolved because people were asking for them,” Estes said.

They are not typically used as a fashion accessory at $700 for the 27-watt charger and $1,200 for the 55-watt version. But the solar chargers are key for Mac users in the wild. People who work in remote areas are QuickerTek’s primary customers for the chargers, Estes said.

A group recently used the chargers on an ascent of Mount Everest.

Estes said he believed the climbers used three of the 55-watt arrays and wired them together. QuickerTek can also make custom cable for specific projects like that one, Estes said.

A doctor also recently bought one of the chargers to use in Haiti, where he needed to be able to power his Mac so he could communicate and send images and information back and forth, Estes said.

The arrays can usually charge a MacBook, MacBook Pro or MacBook Air in about 12 hours with the 27-watt version and half the time with the 55-watt array. The new MacBook Air can charge 30 percent faster, according to the release.

That has a lot to do with the increased efficiency of the computer, Estes said.

How quickly the computer charges and how long it can run on the solar power “depends on the computer, the environment and the applications,” Estes said.

Original source: click here

A report by Clean Energy Australia, released by the peak industry body today, provides a snapshot into just how Australia uses renewable energy.

It showed there were 105,520 solar power systems installed in Australia in the 10 months from January to October 2010, more than the 81,232 installed from 2001 to 2009.

The council’s chief executive Matthew Warren said it made solar power technology the “Hills Hoist of the 21st century”.

“Over the past year, more than 100,000 households have made a significant personal investment to take individual action on climate change,” he said in a statement.

It was also a sign Australians were bracing themselves against hikes in electricity prices, Mr Warren said.

Electricity costs are slated to rise by up to two-thirds in NSW and Queensland by 2015 to meet increasing energy demands, with at least $100 billion needed to upgrade aging infrastructure.

Mr Warren said investments in clean energy would be much cheaper.

The report forecasts that the government’s 20 per cent Renewable Energy Target (RET) will dramatically boost the sector, with more than 55,000 jobs to be created by 2020, mostly wind and solar.

That’s up from the 8085 that presently exist.

Mr Warren said policy uncertainty surrounding climate change and renewables had slowed investment in large-scale clean energy projects, which recorded just modest growth.

Seventeen major projects were recorded to October this year, although another 11 are under way.

Overall, 8.67 per cent of Australia’s electricity was provided by renewable sources in 2010, creating 21,751 gigawatt hours, with the remainder coming from fossil fuels.

Original source: click here

Energyfarm.

ANALYSIS

When Julia Gillard and Hillary Clinton announced they wanted to ”make solar power competitive with conventional power sources” within five years, they left out one important detail.

Their goal was based on solar being competitive with coal-fired power after a carbon price had been imposed.

When you think about it this is obvious – if solar power could provide electricity as cheaply as coal-fired power without putting a cost on the emissions from coal, then we wouldn’t need to impose that cost. The problem would be solved. We could forget the whole carbon price thing, because the only reason to have one is to give a leg-up to more expensive, low-emission sources of power.

But according to the executive director of the Australian Solar Institute, Mark Twidell – who will be managing the $50 million the federal government has stumped up for the initiative – cost-competitive solar without a carbon price sounds too good to be true because it is too good to be true.

”Solar is getting cheaper but the prediction that it could enter the market as a competitive alternative in 2015 is based on the assumption that conventional forms of power will be also more expensive by then for a number of reasons, and one important reason would be a carbon price,” he said.

The office of Resources Minister Martin Ferguson was unable to say what carbon price assumptions lay behind the big US-Australian solar announcement or on what basis the prediction of competitiveness within five years was made.

Whatever the assumed carbon price is in the calculation, the obvious problem is that neither  US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton nor Prime Minister Julia Gillard has a carbon price in place yet.

US President Barack Obama has acknowledged the results of the midterm elections mean he is unlikely to get his cap-and-trade scheme through, certainly not this term. Gillard’s cross-party climate committee meets for only the second time tomorrow, so she has a way to go, too.

Politicians know that reducing greenhouse emissions involves two calculations – what changes to make and how to finance them.

The ”how” always involves the cost, which is why they often dwell on the ”what”. What about solar, they say? What about nuclear?

But the gap between the price of coal and solar, or coal and nuclear, or coal and any other power source, has to be bridged by a cost on the emissions from coal-fired power, or by big government subsidies for the alternatives, or by forcing the generators to pay the price gap and then pass it on to consumers. Whichever way, it can’t just be ignored.

Original source: http://www.smh.com.au/opinion/politics/solar-power-plan-without-a-carbon-price-is-too-good-to-be-true-20101108-17kjg.html

How to wean China, India, USA and the World from Coal and shift to Solar

The solution to man made climate change depends on the transition to Electricity production that, unlike burning Oil, Nat Gas, and Coal, emits little or no CO2; the main Greenhouse Gas responsible for Global Warming.

Low-carbon Electricity can be produced by Solar, Nuclear, and Wind energy, or by Coal-burning power plants that capture and store their CO2 emissions.

The policy problem from LTN’s POV is simplly this; Coal is a cheaper and more easily used energy source than the alternatives.

It is cheap because it is plentiful. It is easier to use than Wind or Solar power because it can produce Electricity 24/7, without reliance on any Weather condition.

To Save the Planet, power suppliers must be induced to adopt low-carbon energy sources despite Coal’s lower price and ease of use.

The 1st and easiest way is to tax Coal, or to require Power Plants to have permits to use Coal, and to set the tax or permit price high enough to induce a shift toward low-carbon alternatives.

Let us suppose Coal produces Electricity at a cost of US$00.06 per kilowatt-hour, while Solar power costs US$00.16 per kilowatt-hour. The tax on Coal-based electricity would have to be US$00.10 per kilowatt-hour.

If that be the case, then consumers would pay US$00.16 per kilowatt-hour for either Coal or Solar. The utilities would then begin to shift to low-carbon solar power. The switchover would cause a more that double the Electricity bill if this came on.

Now, the fact is that politicians are not likely to impose such a tax, because they fear a political backlash that would force them from favor and their powerful “good offices.”

This fact of life has hampered progress in the United States towards a low-carbon economy. But, several EU countries have successfully introduced the idea of the “Feed-in Tariff,” which provides the “Core” of a politically acceptable long-term solution.

A “Feed-in Tariff” subsidizes the low-carbon Energy source rather than taxing the high-carbon energy source.

So in LTN’s example, the government would pay a subsidy of US$00.10 per kilowatt-hour to the Solar-power plant in order to make up the difference between the consumer price of US$00.06 and the production cost of US$00.10.

Thence, the consumer price remains the same, but the government must then pay for the subsidy.

There is another way. Let’s suppose that the government/s levy a small tax on existing Coal power plants in order to pay for the Solar subsidy, and then gradually raise consumers’ Electricity bills as more and more Solar plants come on line.

The price charged to consumers would rise gradually from US$00.06 per kilowatt-hour to the full cost of US$00.16 per kilowatt-hour, but over a phase-in period of, say, 40 yrs; the life-span of today’s newest coal fired electricity generating plants.

Assume that as of Y 2010, the entire Electricity system is Coal-based, and that the Electricity price paid by the consumers is US$00.06 per kilowatt-hour. By Y 2014, suppose that 10% of the 40-yr transition to Solar power has been achieved. The consumer price is raised 10% of the way from US6 cents to US16 cents, thus reaching US$00.07 per kilowatt-hour.

The Coal tax for Y 2014 is then set at US 1 cent per kilowatt-hour, which is just enough to pay the needed Solar subsidy of US 9 cents per kilowatt-hour.

Solar producers fully cover their costs of US 16 cents, since they sell power to the consumers at US 7 cents per kilowatt-hour and receive a subsidy of US 9 cents per kilowatt-hour. A small Coal tax can support a large Solar subsidy.

Let’s take that a bit further, then by Y 2030 the transition to a low-carbon economy is 50% complete. The consumer price for Electricity is now set at US$00.11, exactly halfway between US$00.06 and US$00.16.

The Coal tax is now raised to US$00.05 per kilowatt-hour, enough to cover the Solar subsidy of US$00.05 per kilowatt-hour.

Again, the Solar producers cover their costs exactly, since the subsidy of US$00.055 per kilowatt-hour closes the Gap between the consumer price and the producer cost.

And finally, using the above method, by Y 2050, all Electricity production has made the transition to low-carbon Energy sources, and the consumer price finally reaches US$00.16 per kilowatt-hour, enough to cover the full cost of Solar power without any more government subsidy.

This approach allows higher consumer Electricity prices to be phased in gradually, and establishes strong immediate incentives for adopting Solar power, plus the government budget is balanced every year, since the Coal tax pays for the Solar subsidy.

The actual transformation in the coming years will have 1 major advantage compared to this illustration.

Today’s Solar power plants may cost an extra US$00.10 per kilowatt-hour compared to Coal, but such plants will be much less costly in the future because of improved technology. So, the size of subsidies needed in say 10 to 20 yrs will be lower than they are today.

Energy debates in the USA, Australia, and other countries have centered so far on introducing a cumbersome Cap-and-Trade permit system.

Under the Cap and Trade system every major user of fossil fuels would need to buy permits to emit CO2, and those permits would trade in a special marketplace. The market price of the permits would be equivalent to paying a tax on CO2 emissions.

Management of such Cap-and-Trade systems is difficult and do not give clear signals about the future price of permits. Europe has adopted such a system, but other parts of the World have rejected it out of hand.

IEurope’s biggest successes in promoting low-carbon Energy have come from its Feed-in Tariffs, and carbon taxes in some countries, rather than its Cap-and-Trade system.

We believe that the time has come for the USA, China, India, and other major economies to declare how they will husband and boost their own transitions to a low-carbon economy.

A small and gradually rising carbon tax that funds a Feed-in Tariff system could win political support in the USA. It could also help to bolster consensus among the major coal-based economies, including China and India.

There are effective long-term solutions to man made climate change that are politically acceptable, feasible and relatively easy to implement. The Big Q: is it time to embrace them?

Original source: The Solution to coal

Kalam, 79, is a space pioneer who served as the 11th president of India. He and his former associates at the Indian Space Research Organization (ISRO) have teamed with the Washington-based National Space Society (NSS) for an initiative aimed at accomplishing the work necessary to field a system of large satellites that would collect solar energy and beam it safely to Earth’s surface.

“A large mission like space solar power will need the combined efforts of many nations,” Kalam said Nov. 4 in a conference call from India. “I am certain that harvesting solar power in space can upgrade the living standard of the human race.”

U.S. Allies

Kalam was joined on the line by John Mankins, a former exploration chief technologist at NASA who is president of the Space Power Association, and T.K. Alex, director of the ISRO’s Satellite Center in Bengaluru. Alex, who led development of the Chandrayaan-1 lunar orbiter, will join Mankins as co-principal investigators on the Kalam-National Space Society Energy Initiative.

The group plans a bilateral meeting in Huntsville, Ala., next May to establish a course of action and organizational structure.

While NSS CEO Mark Hopkins says that meeting will be organized around Indian and U.S. participants, plans call for broadening the effort to include other nations — notably Japan, which has done advanced work in space solar power.

Kalam says the topic may be included during President Barack Obama’s upcoming summit with Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, but a more likely route to the top levels of spacefaring nations will come in presentations at future G-8 and G-20 economic summits.

Ideally, different nations will contribute SSP components based on their particular skills, he says. For India and the U.S., cooperation in technology development also can work, he adds.

Indian infrastructure

Alex says India already has a significant terrestrial solar power industry based in the country’s north. The nation also is working in multi-junction solar arrays which, while not as advanced as similar technology in the U.S., could lead to the solar-power conversion efficiency needed to make SSP practical. Similarly, Kalam cited India’s work in reusable launch vehicle technology as a way to hold down the cost of getting SSP payloads to orbit, and said that work could go faster if the U.S. and India collaborate.

Mankins cited a “10-10-10” rule for a first prototype in geostationary orbit that could be a goal for the new bilateral initiative.

Such a system would deliver 10 megawatts of power, cost less than $10 billion to build and launch, and be ready in less than 10 years. The system would consist of a large satellite to collect the Sun’s energy and convert it into microwaves, which would be beamed to an antenna on Earth that would collect the microwaves for conversion to electricity and transmission through the existing power grid.

The antenna would be as open as chicken wire, Hopkins says, which would permit farmers to grow crops under it. And the beam would be so diffuse that “you can walk through the beam, even if you’re naked, and it’s not going to hurt you.”

Original source: http://www.aviationweek.com

Wednesday, 22 September 2010 15:56
Australia’s state governments are taking up the challenge of turning the country into a haven for solar power. The state of Victoria has committed AUD $100 million to the Mallee Solar Park, a 180-megawatt plant proposed by TRUenergy using technology from Arizona-based First Solar. Meanwhile, the state of Western Australia has committed AUD $20 million for a 10-megawatt photovoltaic solar power plant developed in partnership with BP Solar.

The moves, though small, suggest that the Australian solar market is heating up.
In April, a Siemens executive said there was “a powerful business case” for Australia to lead in solar and even sell its energy to other countries. The government of Victoria has set a goal of generating 5 percent of its electricity from solar by 2020 and is also pushing the construction of a $420 million plant being developed by Silex Systems nearby.

The developers of the proposed Victoria plant have applied for funding from the federal government’s $1.5 billion solar flagships program but the total cost of the plant was not disclosed. The funding announcements are expected early next year. TRUenergy Chief Executive Richard McIndoe said the plant, slated for completion in 2015, would use First Solar’s thin-film cadmium telluride PV technology, according to the Sydney Morning Herald.

The Western Australia plant, which will be run by state-owned Verve Energy, would anticipate larger projects in the future, according to state Energy Minister Peter Collier. It carries a total pricetag of AUD $58 million and will be the largest grid-connected solar plant in Australia.

Written by Green energy Reporter

Original source: http://www.bellingencourier.com.au/news/local/news/general/solar-scheme-outofcontrol/1966242.aspx