Keahole Solar Power installation in Hawaii. It is the first commercial solar thermal power plant to be built using solar collectors manufactured by Sopogy. The plant contains over 1,000 parabolic trough solar collectors. The power plant uses the sun's heat to create steam.
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In library school, we were repeatedly warned and discouraged from using Wikipedia, and yet I find myself routed there by the internet search engines. I no longer eschew Wikipedia, and even find myself going there sometimes to receive a quick and easy introduction to a topic. I think if I keep in mind that the articles may not be comprehensive and the reputation and qualifications of the authors are unknown, I'm OK.
In his book, Critical Path, Buckminster Fuller discusses the disastrous results of pursuing atomic and petroleum based energy resources and states that the use of solar energy is the only thing that will allow us humans to continue our existence on earth. This inspired me to learn a little more about solar power. I had no idea that numerous solar energy plants already existed on the face of this earth nor did I have any idea of how beautiful they are. Thanks to Wikipedia, I found a list of power plants along with some pics (see Wikipedia, Solar Power).
Another thing, while reading the Wikipedia article, I glommed on to just three terms I thought I should understand. They were: solar power, PV, and CSP. 1) Solar power is the conversion of sunlight into electricity, either directly using photovoltaics (PV), or indirectly using concentrated solar power (CSP). 2) Concentrated solar power systems (CSP) use lenses or mirrors and tracking systems to focus a large area of sunlight into a small beam. 3) Photovoltaics convert light into electric current using the photoelectric effect.
The next three photographs are from a solar power plant in Spain.
Solnova Power Plant in Sanlucar la Mayor, Spain. This photograph shows the first three units of Solnova: I (right) III (left, front) and IV (left rear). With the commissioning of the third 50 MW unit, the Solnova-IV in August 2010, the power station currently ranks as the largest CSP power station in the world. The two towers in the background are the PS10 and PS20 solar power stations.
Solar Towers from left: PS10, PS20.
The Planta Solar 10 (PS10) concentrates sunlight from a field of heliostats onto a central tower. It is the world's first commercial concentrating Solar power tower operating near Seville, in Andalucia, Spain. The 11 megawatt (MW) solar power tower produces electricity with 624 large movable mirrors called heliostats. It took four years to build and so far cost €35 million (US$46 million). PS10 produces about 23,400 megawatt-hours (MW·h) per year, for which it receives €271 (US$360) per MW·h under its power purchase agreement; equating to a revenue of €6.3 million per year.
The Wikipedia article provides two lists, a list of photovoltaic (PV) solar plants, a list of concentrated solar power (CSP) plants, and a list of solar thermal power plants.
In addition to being quite beautiful, I think there are other very compelling reasons to use solar energy. First, this energy source puts less stress on our fragile environment. I am convinced that the toxins we are dumping into the air are creating damaging climate changes and health issues among humans.
Second, coal and petroleum based energy resources are expensive to mine and will eventually run out, while sunlight is clean, free, and available in vast amounts.
Finally, with improved technology, solar plants are becoming economically feasible. After the initial cost of building the plant, costs are very low. I have read that with such low overhead, solar plants can now pay for themselves in just about ten years.
I posted some of these photographs on Facebook this weekend. I realize that Facebook is a SOCIAL network and is intended for people to share the pics of their friends. Well, I consider the earth a friend, I really do. So I just created a facebook album called: This is Facebook, and this is the Face of the Earth I dream about someday.
The Wikipedia article provides two lists, a list of photovoltaic (PV) solar plants, a list of concentrated solar power (CSP) plants, and a list of solar thermal power plants.
In addition to being quite beautiful, I think there are other very compelling reasons to use solar energy. First, this energy source puts less stress on our fragile environment. I am convinced that the toxins we are dumping into the air are creating damaging climate changes and health issues among humans.
Second, coal and petroleum based energy resources are expensive to mine and will eventually run out, while sunlight is clean, free, and available in vast amounts.
Finally, with improved technology, solar plants are becoming economically feasible. After the initial cost of building the plant, costs are very low. I have read that with such low overhead, solar plants can now pay for themselves in just about ten years.
I posted some of these photographs on Facebook this weekend. I realize that Facebook is a SOCIAL network and is intended for people to share the pics of their friends. Well, I consider the earth a friend, I really do. So I just created a facebook album called: This is Facebook, and this is the Face of the Earth I dream about someday.
