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Largest US Power Storing Solar Array Goes Live

Posted by samzenpus on from the here-somes-the-sun dept.

Lucas123 writes "A solar power array that covers three square miles with 3,200 mirrored parabolic collectors went live this week, creating enough energy to power 70,000 homes in Arizona. The Solana Solar Power Plant, located 70 miles southwest of Phoenix, was built at a cost of $2 billion, and financed in large part by a U.S. Department of Energy loan guarantee. The array is the world's largest parabolic trough plant, meaning it uses parabolic shaped mirrors mounted on moving structures that track the sun and concentrate its heat. A first: a thermal energy storage system at the plant can provide electricity for six hours without the concurrent use of the solar field. Because it can store electricity, the plant can continue to provide power during the night and inclement weather."

4 of 377 comments (clear)

  1. pricing by Moblaster · · Score: 5, Interesting

    So I'm not going to respond to the first post because it makes no sense. But I'll happily use the "first reply" spot, thank you very much, to actually say something. This $2 billion plant breaks down to close to $30,000 per home serviced. Seems a wee bit excessive, considering the average home electric bill in Arizona runs something like $200 (I researched the web for a few minutes to estimate this). Consider that installing a home solar system would run something like $10-$20k at most in a sunny place like Arizona (considerably less w various tax incentives). Looking like a bit of a boondoggle?

    1. Re:pricing by edjs · · Score: 4, Interesting

      This plant cost $7100/kW. For comparison, the US Energy Information Administration estimates a new nuke plant would cost about $5300/kW (and in China, where they actually building many nukes, they're $2000/kW).

      Presumably if more of these solar plants were built the cost would come down.

  2. Re:Three square miles of pristine desert? Bad huma by matthewd · · Score: 4, Interesting

    I did the calculations and it is around 1200 square feet per household that this project is powering. I'm not sure this type of land use could really scale.

  3. Re:WTF by FishTankX · · Score: 4, Interesting

    More storage capacity beyond peak hours probably isn't profitable. You want to sell electricity during peak because that's when you're getting the highest dollar value for your power. They probably designed the salt storage, so the total output of the plant was extended long enough to generate during those peak evening hours, and no longer, so baseload power takes over. The smaller your storage is, the less power you would put into storage and the more power you put into spinning your turbine.