Tag Archives: csp
DOE Throws $60M at CSP Technology
Concentrating Solar Power — large power plants that convert thermal energy into electricity — offer firm, centralized power that better match a utility’s needs. See “Solar Can Be Baseload: Spanish CSP Plant with Storage Produces Electricity for 24 Hours Straight.” But CSP plants, which require far more material and man-power to develop than equivalent PV [...]
Solar Thermal: No Respect
In most countries solar power is often perceived as synonymous with solar photovoltaic (PV), the classic rooftop panels that convert sunlight to electricity through solar cells. But that could be a misconception, says Environmental Protection, since solar thermal, which gets less attention than PV, actually is more efficient. Solar thermal is cheaper and more efficient, [...]
SolarReserve Lands $15M for CSP
SolarReserve, a utility-scale solar thermal developer, just closed on $15 million of a $30 million round according to an SEC form D filing spotted by Green Energy Reporter. It would have been entertaining to have been a fly on the wall in that terms negotiation meeting for this Concentrating Solar Power (CSP) developer, given the [...]
Why is CSP Falling Out of Favor?
When Solar Millennium announced last week that it would switch from solar thermal to photovoltaic technology for the first 500-megawatt phase of its 1,000-megawatt solar project outside of Blythe, Calif., It drew attention to a growing trend away from CSP. Solar Millennium issued a statement last week saying that the company felt solar photovoltaic technology [...]
BrightSource Goes Big With CSP
We spoke with BrightSource CEO John Woolard earlier this week about CSP economics and the newly announced molten-salt storage technology that BrightSource will incorporate into its concentrated solar power systems. Woolard hinted that there were more and bigger announcements to come. We didn’t expect them to come so soon. The soon-to-IPO mega-startup just filed a [...]
Progress in Solar Thermal/CSP
The Vector is pleased to see progress made in the solar thermal / CSP (concentrating solar power) space. We have always believed that solarthermal is the heavy betting favorite to be the ultimate winner in therace for a clean energy technology to replace fossil fuels – at leastthrough the remainder of the 21st Century. The [...]
Dept. of the Interior Approves Tessera CSP Project
The Calico project received a positive "Final Record of Decision" fromSecretary of the Interior Ken Salazar (as the BLM is part of theDepartment of the Interior). This is the fifth solar approval thismonth (Tessera’s Imperial dish-engine plant, Chevron’s Lucerne PV plant, BrightSource’s Ivanpah tower plant, and First Solar’s Silver State). (To see the new map [...]
The Southwestern CSP Solar Surge
The leading edge of a big solar energy wave is beginning to hit in the desert Southwest. CAP’s Tom Kenworthy has the story. The Department of Interior today announced final approval of twolarge solar energy projects in southern California that will produce 754 megawatts of clean renewable energy to power more than a quartermillion homes [...]
CSP Market Analysis: Economic Benefits
Clean energy production offers a plethora of economic benefits, but as partnerships and acquisitions continue to emerge in the concentrated solar power (CSP) market, it is believed that only a few vertically-integrated titans will remain, which is a sharp contrast to the other branch of solar power, photovoltaics (PV), encompassing as many as 400 manufacturers. CSP [...]