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The Solar Mission
Project is SolarMission's program to
establish solar thermal energy generation as a
commercial alternative in the world energy market.
The Solar Mission will adapt the unique
German designed Solar Tower technology to various desert-like
regions throughout the world. The first phase of the Australian program, the
optimization of the commercial value of Solar
Tower technology, has been completed. This
included identifying an
optimum site for construction and selection of
materials and building methods to be used in
the power station’s construction. SolarMission
is in the process of completing this
optimization phase in the US with a number of
sites already being investigated.
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What is Solar Tower Technology?
Solar
tower technology is not simply solar energy.
Solar tower technology is created when the sun’s radiation is used
to heat a large body of air, which is then
forced by the laws of physics (hot air rises)
to move as a hot wind through large turbines
to generate electricity. A solar thermal power
station using solar tower technology will create the conditions to cause hot wind
to flow continuously through its turbines to
generate electricity. Learn more about
the
Solar Tower
Technology.
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What
will a Solar Tower power station look like?
 The power station will
be based on German designed solar
tower technology. It will look like an
enormous greenhouse canopy with a very tall
hollow ventilation tower located at its center.
The sun’s radiation
will be collected and trapped under the
transparent canopy, creating a massive force
of air heated to around 100°F greater than the
ambient temperature. The laws of physics will
make this air move at 38 feet per second
towards the cold air at the top of the tower
located in center of the canopy. The powerful
updraft will force the rising air to pass
through large turbines positioned at the base
of the tower. The movement of the hot wind
through the turbines will generate up to 200MW
of clean, emission free electricity – enough
electricity for 200,000 typical homes.
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What
materials will be used?
The solar thermal power station will be composed of
three major components: the solar collector,
solar tower and turbines. The large solar collector canopy will be
constructed from a transparent material with
heat enhancing properties. The tower will be
constructed from reinforced high tensile
concrete. The large-scale turbines will be
purpose designed and constructed from
lightweight alloy materials like those used in
aircraft manufacture.
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What
are the dimensions of the Solar Tower power
station?
|
Tower |
3000
feet high, 400 feet Diameter |
|
Concrete |
750,000
cubic yards |
|
Collector |
3.5
miles diameter (30 million square yards)
glass/polycarbonate/plastic film |
|
Turbines |
32 units
x 6.25 MegaWatt |
|
Land |
20.25
square miles (4.5 x 4.5) |
|
Construction |
34
months |
|
Jobs |
2700+(Construction),
15 (ongoing) |
|
Output |
200
MegaWatts (200,000 households) |
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How
many hours in a day will it generate
electricity?
SolarMission's solar
thermal power station will generate
electricity 24-hours a day. The power station
will be at its most efficient on hot days when
energy is most needed and peak prices are paid
for electricity. Innovative design will
enable the power station to store heat and
continue to generate energy during the night.
This special feature enhances the commercial
viability of the power station and gives
SolarMission a consistent competitive
advantage over other forms of renewable energy
generation.
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Where will the first power station be built?
 The first commercial plant to be built will be
in Australia close to the border of Victoria
and New South Wales. At the conclusion of the
commercial optimization study in the US, a suitable
location will determined for our first
solar thermal power station.
We are currently considering a number
of regional sites with suitable
solar radiation levels and access to power
grids.
What
factors will determine the best site? SolarMission's
commercial optimization study will take
several issues into consideration before we
choose the best site for our first power
station.
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Can it be built?
A technical review report prepared by Sinclair Knight
Merz, one of the world's leading engineering specialists,
independently agree the
proposed solar thermal power station’s
design concepts and construction methods are
well proven and it can be built. A 50kW prototype
Solar Tower plant was constructed and
successfully operated in Manzaneres, Spain,
with involvement of the designer,
Professor Jörg Schlaich,
and the Spanish Government in 1982. The
prototype operated for seven years and
conclusively proved the technology. The
data obtained from this prototype has provided
the basis for a scaled up 200MW generation
plant.
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Why wasn’t it built earlier?
For more than 100 years
it has always been cheap and simple to dig up
and burn coal to produce electricity. However,
enormous shifts in community values across the
world and growing concern about the
environment, global warming and pollution over
the last 20 years has led to a demand for
methods to generate renewable, clean green
energy. Increased global concerns about our over reliance on
coal based ‘black’ energy and its negative
impact on our environment is driving political
changes. There are now legislated markets for
clean, green renewable energy. This
development has opened the way for investment
in new approaches to green energy generation.
New materials and
construction methods have been developed to
the point where solar tower technology can
now be applied in an economically viable way.
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