Outside Albuquerque, New Mexico 6 Solar Dishes from the Solar Thermal Test Facility are being constructed, each having 82 mirrors alongside forming a 38ft parabola. These dishes may produce over 60,000 Kilowatts/Hr electricity annually. Also creating heat equivalent to over 13,000 suns, passing a flux 13x greater then when space shuttles hit reentry. Hydrogen gas is used to generate a Sterling Engine of 4 95cc cylinders. Giving the power grid involved in the operation, the electrical source could provide power to thousands of homes and plants, saving mega $$$. More to be built...
Why not make a thermal cell that produces electricity from room temperature and body heat?
QUOTE (WhiteRhasta+Oct 28 2008, 06:43 PM)
Outside Albuquerque, New Mexico 6 Solar Dishes from the Solar Thermal Test Facility are being constructed, each having 82 mirrors alongside forming a 38ft parabola. These dishes may produce over 60,000 Kilowatts/Hr electricity annually. Also creating heat equivalent to over 13,000 suns, passing a flux 13x greater then when space shuttles hit reentry. Hydrogen gas is used to generate a Sterling Engine of 4 95cc cylinders. Giving the power grid involved in the operation, the electrical source could provide power to thousands of homes and plants, saving mega $$$. More to be built...
I have personally become very interested in Solar Towers because they just make sense.
Yes, they are relatively very expensive in terms of the initial investment, but when you consider the fact that there is virtually no overhead or upkeep cost once the power plant is made, to me, it becomes very enticing technology.
I calculated that 12,500 of them the size of that one in Spain could power all homes and apartments in the entire united states.
That may look like a lot of solar towers, well it is. That is 1.5 billion square meters of mirrors.
That's 1500 square kilometers, or 586 square miles. (about 1.35% the land area of Louisiana.)
Sounds daunting. But when you think about it, that is not all that much work to do compared to things like roads and dams. In texas, New Mexico, Arizona, Nevada, Utah, and other states, these towers (or something similar) could be constructed and provide energy with absolutely no pollution and almost no upkeep costs.
Imagine, 20 years from completion, a tower could have totally paid itself off and be bringing in pure profit, and perfectly clean energy with absolutely no pollution to speak of.
PS20 solar plant
Output 300 MW solar tower
Estimated Investment: €1,200m
1 Euro = 1.2938 U.S. dollars
So this entire project is about $1,553,000,000.00.
Yes, I know that is a huge amont of money, but they said this is enough energy for 600,000 people once completed.
Based on estimates for maintenance workers from a website, I calculate that after paying salaries for the maintenance workers and other hidden costs such as replacement parts from time to time, the tower should generate approximately 600 million dollars profit each year. This means it will totally pay for itself within 3 or 4 years, and has an estimated lifetime of 25 years...This gives the potential for a 625%-833% return on the investment over 25 years if energy prices stay the same. Compare that to any other investment.
I have personally become very interested in Solar Towers because they just make sense.
Yes, they are relatively very expensive in terms of the initial investment, but when you consider the fact that there is virtually no overhead or upkeep cost once the power plant is made, to me, it becomes very enticing technology.
I calculated that 12,500 of them the size of that one in Spain could power all homes and apartments in the entire united states.
That may look like a lot of solar towers, well it is. That is 1.5 billion square meters of mirrors.
That's 1500 square kilometers, or 586 square miles. (about 1.35% the land area of Louisiana.)
Sounds daunting. But when you think about it, that is not all that much work to do compared to things like roads and dams. In texas, New Mexico, Arizona, Nevada, Utah, and other states, these towers (or something similar) could be constructed and provide energy with absolutely no pollution and almost no upkeep costs.
Imagine, 20 years from completion, a tower could have totally paid itself off and be bringing in pure profit, and perfectly clean energy with absolutely no pollution to speak of.
PS20 solar plant
Output 300 MW solar tower
Estimated Investment: €1,200m
1 Euro = 1.2938 U.S. dollars
So this entire project is about $1,553,000,000.00.
Yes, I know that is a huge amont of money, but they said this is enough energy for 600,000 people once completed.
Based on estimates for maintenance workers from a website, I calculate that after paying salaries for the maintenance workers and other hidden costs such as replacement parts from time to time, the tower should generate approximately 600 million dollars profit each year. This means it will totally pay for itself within 3 or 4 years, and has an estimated lifetime of 25 years...This gives the potential for a 625%-833% return on the investment over 25 years if energy prices stay the same. Compare that to any other investment.
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