Tag Archives: concentrated solar power

Concentrated Solar Power is unreliable, full of glitches, & has a low energy return

Preface.  Concentrating solar power (CSP) projects usually sprawl in a circle over several square miles and can cost over a billion dollars. They use mirrors and lenses to capture the high temperatures needed to efficiently produce or store electricity. Almost … Continue reading

Posted in Concentrated Solar Power, Solar EROI | Tagged , , , | 2 Comments

Concentrated Solar Power can only exist in deserts and use too much water

What follows is my summary of: Bracken, N., et al. 2015. Concentrating solar power and water issues in the U.S. Southwest. U.S. department of energy, National renewable energy lab. Alice Friedemann   www.energyskeptic.com  author of “When Trucks Stop Running: Energy and … Continue reading

Posted in Concentrated Solar Power, Electricity Infrastructure | Tagged , , , | 1 Comment

Taxpayers are paying for a concentrated solar project — Ivanpah– that doesn’t work

Ivanpah in the news: Dvorsky, G. May 21, 2016. The World’s Largest Solar Plant Just Torched Itself. Gizmodo (Australia). Misaligned mirrors are being blamed for a fire that broke out yesterday at the world’s largest solar power plant, leaving the … Continue reading

Posted in Concentrated Solar Power, Corporate Welfare | Tagged , , , | Comments Off on Taxpayers are paying for a concentrated solar project — Ivanpah– that doesn’t work

The potential role of concentrating solar power

Preface. The word “water” appears nowhere in this document, even though that’s a major limiting factor for CSP with thermal storage. Dry cooling is possible, but it lowers the EROI and raises the already way-too-high capital cost. An electric grid … Continue reading

Posted in Concentrated Solar Power, Renewable Integration | Tagged , , , | Comments Off on The potential role of concentrating solar power

CSP Barriers and Obstacles

Location must be in the desert Southwest Unlike solar PV, CSP can’t cope with humidity or cloud cover, so it is limited to the southwest were the solar irradiation is high and there is no dust, haze, or smog.  Solar … Continue reading

Posted in CSP with thermal energy storage | Tagged , , , , , | Comments Off on CSP Barriers and Obstacles

Concentrated Solar Power: location, location, location

Location, Location, Location:   What follows is from: SBC. June 2013. Concentrating Solar Power. SBC Energy Institute. The best sites are between 10° and 40°, South or North. As you can see in the chart below, this makes a huge difference, … Continue reading

Posted in Concentrated Solar Power | Tagged , , , , | Comments Off on Concentrated Solar Power: location, location, location

Is there enough renewable energy to replace fossil fuel electricity generation?

NREL. July 2012. U.S. Renewable Energy Technical Potentials: A GIS-Based Analysis. National Renewable Energy Laboratory. This document is a thought experiment that uses GIS mapping to estimate how much renewable power could possibly be generated in each state regardless of … Continue reading

Posted in Alternative Energy, Concentrated Solar Power, Photovoltaic Solar, Renewable Integration, Wind | Tagged , , , , , | 4 Comments