THE ALL SEEING eye;) Another example of harnessing the power of the sun in some crazy way\.

[Goosemaster]

Just look at the pics and the video. Sure it's been done before....but not like this....
@ the BBC

BBC NEWS
Power station harnesses Sun's rays
By David Shukman
Science correspondent, BBC News, Seville

A field of 600 mirrors reflects rays from the Sun A tour of the tower
There is a scene in one of the Austin Powers films where Dr Evil unleashes a giant "tractor beam" of energy at Earth in order to extract a massive payment.

Well, the memory of it kept me chuckling as I toured the extraordinary scene of the new solar thermal power plant outside Seville in southern Spain.

From a distance, as we rounded a bend and first caught sight of it, I couldn't believe the strange structure ahead of me was actually real.

A concrete tower - 40 storeys high - stood bathed in intense white light, a totally bizarre image in the depths of the Andalusian countryside.

The tower looked like it was being hosed with giant sprays of water or was somehow being squirted with jets of pale gas. I had trouble working it out.

In fact, as we found out when we got closer, the rays of sunlight reflected by a field of 600 huge mirrors are so intense they illuminate the water vapour and dust hanging in the air.

The effect is to give the whole place a glow - even an aura - and if you're concerned about climate change that may well be deserved.

It is Europe's first commercially operating power station using the Sun's energy this way and at the moment its operator, Solucar, proudly claims that it generates 11 Megawatts (MW) of electricity without emitting a single puff of greenhouse gas. This current figure is enough to power about 8,000 homes.

But ultimately, the entire plant should generate as much power as is used by the 600,000 people of Seville.

It works by focusing the reflected rays on one location, turning water into steam and then blasting it into turbines to generate power.

As I climbed out of the car, I could hardly open my eyes - the scene was far too bright. Gradually, though, shielded by sunglasses, I made out the rows of mirrors (each 120 sq m in size) and the focus of their reflected beams - a collection of water pipes at the top of the tower.

It was probably the heat that did it, but I found myself making the long journey up to the very top - to the heart of the solar inferno.

A lift took me most of the way but cameraman Duncan Stone and I had to climb the last four storeys by ladder. We could soon feel the heat, despite thick insulation around the boiler.

It was like being in a sauna and for the last stages the metal rungs of the ladders were scalding.

But our reward was the cool breeze at the top of the tower - and the staggering sight of a blaze of light heading our way from down below.

So far, only one field of mirrors is working. But to one side I could see the bulldozers at work clearing a second, larger field - thousands more mirrors will be installed.

Letting off steam

I met one of the gurus of solar thermal power, Michael Geyer, an international director of the energy giant Abengoa, which owns the plant. He is ready with answers to all the tricky questions.

What happens when the Sun goes down? Enough heat can be stored in the form of steam to allow generation after dark - only for an hour now but maybe longer in future.

Anyway, the solar power is most needed in the heat of summer when air conditioners are working flat out.

Is it true that this power is three times more expensive than power from conventional sources? Yes, but prices will fall, as they have with wind power, as the technologies develop.

Also, a more realistic comparison is with the cost of generating power from coal or gas only at times of peak demand - then this solar system seems more attractive.

The vision is of the sun-blessed lands of the Mediterranean - even the Sahara desert - being carpeted with systems like this with the power cabled to the drizzlier lands of northern Europe. A dazzling idea in a dazzling location.

HOW THE SOLAR TOWER WORKS
1. The solar tower is 115m (377ft) tall and surrounded by 600 steel reflectors (heliostats). They track the sun and direct its rays to a heat exchanger (receiver) at the top of the tower
2. The receiver converts concentrated solar energy from the heliostats into steam
3. Steam is stored in tanks and used to drive turbines that, eventually, will produce enough electricity for up to 6,000 homes

Story from BBC NEWS:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/go/pr/fr/-/2/hi/science/nature/6616651.stm

Published: 2007/05/02 21:12:14 GMT

© BBC MMVII

Remind me of the LOTR eyeball dude....

 

[futuristicmonkey]

That's not generation..that's art. If they'd paint the damned thing black they'd probably get twice the power.

Seriously -- all of that construction for 11 megawatts? I don't even like wind power but you could probably build a wind farm for half the price in the same area for at least double the power. This is nonsense.

-ben

 

[Spoooon]

I bet that's pretty awesome in person.

 

[everman]

About time they built something to pay homage to the Ori.

 

[AgaBoogaBoo]

Interesting design, never thought about something like that... crazy sh!t

 

[MrPickins]

Reminds me of a much more aesthetically pleasing Solar One/Two

I wonder how the efficiency compares to parabolic trough units.

 

[I4AT]

Hate to be the maintenance guy, skin cancer FTL.

 

[Yossarian451]

The ones like that in Arizona, melt salt to run the turbines. It is a pretty impressive thought that concentrated sunlight can get that hot.

 

[mercanucaribe]

Why would you look at mirrors reflecting the sun at you, even wearing sunglasses?

 

[Howard]

Imagine if people in the Dark Ages saw that.

 

[compnovice]

I am sure all the tanning shops in town would be out of business soon

 

[Rubycon]

Solex Agitator

 

[Aharami]

that is pretty freaking cool

 

[Paratus]

The size problem is due to only ~350 W/M^2 of solar flux being available at ground level. So they'd need ~31500M^2 of reflecting surface & that's assuming 100% efficency which they aren't getting.

My solar arrays are only ~18% efficient but have ~1300 W/M^2 solar flux available as they are at a slightly higher altitude.

(click link in sig for pic)

 

[Goosemaster]

Originally posted by: Paratus
The size problem is due to only ~350 W/M^2 of solar flux being available at ground level. So they'd need ~31500M^2 of reflecting surface & that's assuming 100% efficency which they aren't getting.

My solar arrays are only ~18% efficient but have ~1300 W/M^2 solar flux available as they are at a slightly higher altitude.

(click link in sig for pic)

ah.....frying "ants" with that array would be cool..

dude..hey dude....dude..check this out....Rome is burning AHAHAHHAHAHA

:evil:

 

[Goosemaster]

Originally posted by: MrPickins
Reminds me of a much more aesthetically pleasing Solar One/Two

I wonder how the efficiency compares to parabolic trough units.

I would think that they both have their pros...

Looks like the parabolic ones have less surface area but offset that with a convex shape that converges the light towards a smaller area, perhaps so they don't have to be as large, as tall, as separated so that they aren't each other's way, and can have a shorter center tower thingy

for the flat ones, you don't get any convergence but you get a massive about of surface area (120sq m :Q)

 

[Sdiver2489]

I want to focus those rays on the world's biggest ant colony

 

[So]

Eleven whole megawatts? Wow-wee!

 

[andylawcc]

this sure beats your "Adventure Time" thingie

 

[LordMorpheus]

Originally posted by: Goosemaster

Originally posted by: Paratus
The size problem is due to only ~350 W/M^2 of solar flux being available at ground level. So they'd need ~31500M^2 of reflecting surface & that's assuming 100% efficency which they aren't getting.

My solar arrays are only ~18% efficient but have ~1300 W/M^2 solar flux available as they are at a slightly higher altitude.

(click link in sig for pic)

ah.....frying "ants" with that array would be cool..

dude..hey dude....dude..check this out....Rome is burning AHAHAHHAHAHA

:evil:

Size has nothing to do with efficiency (well, not in the way that you suggest).

Your 31500 m^2 with 315W/m^2 just means you collect a total of 9.9 millions watts, 18% of which you turn into power, or about 1.7 million watts.


again, you are pulling that area number out of nowhere and it is irrelevant. This is also not a solar array, this is a solar heater - it boils water to run turbines, it isn't converted directly to electricity. This will be much more efficient, as most inefficiencies in systems manifest themselves as heat - heat is the desired energy form here and they can probably turn about 80% of the solar energy they collect into heat, possibly more. Modern power plants are pretty efficient about converting heat into electrical power, so I wouldn't be surprised if this is actually a very efficient operation.

Probably not economically viable as an alternative to coal and gas yet, and you can't run it at night and you'll get severely reduced output when it's cloudy, but still very cool

 

[Sc4freak]

11 megawatts? That's not exactly a blazingly large power output. Modern coal/oil/nuclear power plants generate up to 1 gigawatt and beyond.

 

[andylawcc]

Originally posted by: Paratus
The size problem is due to only ~350 W/M^2 of solar flux being available at ground level. So they'd need ~31500M^2 of reflecting surface & that's assuming 100% efficency which they aren't getting.

My solar arrays are only ~18% efficient but have ~1300 W/M^2 solar flux available as they are at a slightly higher altitude.

(click link in sig for pic)

Originally posted by: So
Eleven whole megawatts? Wow-wee!

dude, it's maybe weak sauce, but it's "free".

 

[Sc4freak]

Yes, free. Except, of course, that it costs many times more than "regular" power generation.

In terms of costs on the environment, then yes it's "free".

 

[andylawcc]

Originally posted by: Sc4freak
Yes, free. Except, of course, that it costs many times more than "regular" power generation.

In terms of costs on the environment, then yes it's "free".

in the short term, the cost of capital is HUGE. but in the long run, as long as maintanence is relatively cheap, this IS the way to go.

 

[xSkyDrAx]

I'm betting the people who made this thing loved to fry ant's w/ magnifying glasses when they were younger