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Salting away renewable energy for future use

The Crescent Dunes Power Plant. A large group of mirror in a circle surrounding a tower. They are in an empty desert.

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Mirrors track the sun, directing its energy to the receiver atop the Crescent Dunes tower in Tonopah, Nevada.

One of the biggest challenges in the solar energy field is how to store electricity from the sun. One solution may be no farther than your saltshaker.

SolarReserve, a California company, is using salt for long-term energy storage. The company has a solar power plant called Crescent Dunes in Tonopah, Nevada. Crescent Dunes is the first commercial plant in the United States to use this technology.

The plant’s 110-megawatt capacity can power 75,000 homes and run for 10 hours from storage. That means overnight.

Kevin Smith is the CEO of Solar Reserve. He says the Paris climate deal can transform global energy. He thinks more countries around the world will begin using renewable energy. In particular, he sees a lot of potential in emerging markets such as Africa, Latin America and Asia.

How does it work?

Mirrors that track the sun — 10,000 of them — reflect sunlight onto a receiver set atop a 195-meter tower. Liquid salt is piped through the heated receiver. The molten salt flows into an insulated thermal storage tank. As electricity is needed the molten salt moves through a steam-generation system. There, water is heated to produce high-pressure steam. The steam drives a turbine that generates electricity. It works whether the sun is shining or not.

solar reserve diagram 400.png

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This is the same way gas, coal, and nuclear power plants produce electricity. But, it is 100 percent renewable, without harmful greenhouse gas emissions.

Yogi Goswami is a solar power expert at the University of South Florida. “So far, in the industry, that’s the state of the art — molten salt storage,” he said.

salt tank 400.png

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Salt Tanks provide efficient thermal energy storage. They allow energy to be provided after the sun goes down. Energy output can be scheduled to meet demand requirements.

SolarReserve's molten salt storage technology comes after decades of design and testing. Many U.S. aerospace companies contributed research and knowledge to the project. These companies include Rockwell International, Rocketdyne, Boeing, Pratt & Whitney, and Aerojet.

SolarReserve is an American company, but it has projects in other countries too. SolarReserve is developing similar projects that use molten salt in South Africa, Chile, and China. They are working in partnership with governments and private energy providers. They have projects in South Africa, Chile, China.

Source:

© 2020 by FHI 360. "Intermediate Reading Practice: Salting Away Energy for Future Use" for the Online Professional English Network (OPEN), sponsored by the U.S. Department of State with funding provided by the U.S. government and administered by FHI 360. This work is an adaptation of "Salting Away Renewable Energy for Future Use" by Lea Terhune / ShareAmerica used under Public Domain/ U.S. Government Works. Adapted content is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License, except where noted. To view a copy of this license, visit http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/

Image Credits:

Crescent Dunes Solar Energy Project: This work is a derivative of “Crescent Dunes Solar Energy Project” by “Amble” via Wikimedia Commons used under the Creative Commons Attribution-Share-Alike License. This derivative is licensed under CC BY SA 4.0 by FHI 360 for use in the OPEN program, sponsored by the U.S. government and administered by FHI 360.

SolarReserve Process Diagram: This work is a derivative of “fan” by ainul muttaqin,, “turbine” by Flatart, “and “electricity” by iconixar used under CC BY. This derivative is licensed under CC BY 4.0 by FHI 360 for use in the OPEN program, sponsored by the U.S. Department of State with funding provided by the U.S. government and administered by FHI 360.

Salt Tanks This work is a derivative of "Thermal Energy Storage" by Energy.gov via Wikimedia Commons used under Public Domain / U.S. Government Works. This derivative is licensed under CC BY 4.0 by FHI 360 for use in the OPEN program, sponsored by the U.S. government and administered by FHI 360.