Concentrating the Power of the Sun

Concentrating Solar Power (CSP) is emerging as one of the most promising sources of renewable energy for the 21st century. Tessera Solar International, headquartered in Houston, Texas, (Tessera Solar International, based in London, United Kingdom), will develop, build, operate and own large-scale solar power plants around the world, using the new SunCatcher Solar Dish Stirling System, developed by Tessera’s sister company, Stirling Energy, Inc. (SES), headquartered in Phoenix, Arizona.

Second generation of the SunCatcher system, this 25-kilowatt-electrical (kWe) system received the Popular Mechanics magazine Breakthrough Innovator Award in Oct. 2008. Based on the use of an innovative radial design for the precision concentrating mirrors that are attached to a parabolic dish.

At sunrise, each SunCatcher automatically rotates to face the sun, focuses the sun light onto a single point, the Power Conversion Unit (PCU), which heats and pressurizes the hydrogen gas in the closed-loop, heat exchanger tubing, this gas in turn powers a reciprocating Solar Stirling engine. The engine utilizes the change in temperature of the gas to drive a turbine, which generates grid quality energy. The gas is cooled by a radiator system and is continually recycled within the engine during the power cycle. It is about 5,000 lbs lighter than the original system and utilizes just 40 mirrors instead of the 80 that were used previously.

The SunCatcher technology can harness the sun’s energy using no fuel, making it totally emissions free and tackling global climate change by actively reducing our planet’s carbon emissions. It provides a clean, efficient, reliable source of energy.  It holds the world record for highest efficiency conversion of solar energy into grid electricity ; 31-25% Sun-to-Grid.

Unlike other thermal-powered generating systems, the SunCatcher conversion process does not consume water, except to wash it’s mirrors. Scheduled to be in full-scale production in 2010.  This new technology will be deployed in some of the world’s largest solar plants in Southern California, which expect to produce about 1000 MW of green electricity by 2012.

It is truly pure power made simple.

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Tags: Concentrating solar power, electricity generation, energy, Everything Solar, Renewable, renewable energy, solar energy, Solar thermal energy

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