solar updates reflective and PV for the world

First topic message reminder :

the baja is a perfect place for reflective/thermal solar systems. It is considered one of the top places in the world for making use of the suns energy. PV (photovoltaic) is just too expensive and will degrade in a expected 30 year life. whereas the reflective/thermal plants are good for 50-100 years. Baja could begin solar farming of electricity and ship it to the mainland and or the USA. properly set up I bet these could provide shopping center shade. LaPaz could be the first city to mandate electric vehicles because the power is so cost effective. LaPaz could become the Solar Energy University and offer degrees on all aspects of this technology. In general LaPaz loses its best engineers because there are no real engineering jobs in the non-manufacturing area of the baja. This would create long term clean good paying jobs in the baja, thousands of them...

Our electric costs in the baja for second the main tier rates are about 27 pesos with tax per KiloWattHour. or about USD$0.25. In the USA the average for home use is about USD$0.10 San Diego for the high rate is USD$0.14. And in the USA commercial rates are even lower. The USA gives a substantial discount to businesses. In Canada the delivered cost of electricity is about 7 cents per KWh.

The cost to make electricity is as low as 2 cents a KWh made by nuclear power plants. And diesel plants being the highest. after that there are transmision and distribution fees. these fees are the equipment which is a standard around the world for wire transformers, no one has discounts here. As we know in the USA the power company linemen/installers employees make top level union wages. In the baja I have no idea what the costs are of the employees.

The new installations of solar thermal with US labor costs for set up in the USA are delivering power to consumers at USD$0.14. this is in a return of 20 years and these plants will last for 50-100 years so the price will be substantially less. Isn't it time baja begins setting up these farms and selling the power to the USA and mainland Mexico?

Baja sells renewable fruits and vegetables so why not farm electricity and bring in quality jobs that last for a hundred years that do less damage than agricultural farming does and help the US and mainland have clean energy and become energy independent.

the details are posted below in the next posts.

timely... but we need these baja Sur, the government of Baja Sur needs to meet with these companies to get them down here.

http://www.bajanews.org/index.html?entry=mexico-s-8-billion-power


Mexico's $8 Billion Power Projects may cut California Emissions
by Baja Daily News (BDN) on 06/24/11

Mexico expects foreign investment in renewable energy to almost triple this year to $8 billion, helping U.S. states such as California to slash carbon emissions, said the head of the Latin American nation’s investment promotions agency.

ProMexico, as the agency is known, is in talks with European and U.S. wind and solar-power companies for four to five projects this year, compared with four projects totaling $3 billion in 2010, agency chief Carlos Guzman said in an interview in London today. Companies with operations in Mexico, such as Italy’s Enel SpA, Spain’s Iberdrola SA (IBE), Acciona SA (ANA) or Abengoa SA could make additional investments, he said.

why not pump cold water for use in AC to cut electrical demand. this has beeen done by many places. Basically pumping the cold deep water to the city and use simple direct energy heat exchanges to cool the buildings. It cuts the electrical demand and is a green solution to it.

LaPaz is a bit of a challenge, but have seem amazing things in construction happen here. Cabo looks like a great candidate and Los Barriles does too. Here a re a few that have been done.

http://www.makai.com/renewable_energy/swac.htm
http://www.gogeothermal.ca/article_ISIS_blue_revolution.php
http://www.toronto.ca/environment/initiatives/cooling.htm
http://www.google.com/url?sa=t&source=web&cd=8&ved=0CH0QFjAH&url=ftp%3A%2F%2Fwww.energy.wsu.edu%2FSCL%2FDeliverables%2FSpurr%2520Deep%2520Water%2520IDEA%2520June%252023%252003.ppt&rct=j&q=cooling%20deep%20water%20%20pump&ei=ndvqTdzbKpL6sAPM6OHjDQ&usg=AFQjCNExq-BX213a3pbkmYd1CceIvXVwvg&cad=rja

If LaPaz could do it they could use the outflow to make a arifical swimming pool along the malicon. They would put in a levey 100 or so yards out that would be wide enough to drive one way and park to help the parking problem and traffic problem. this would be in stages but ideally several miles long. this artifical pool would have clean water so people could swim in downtown LaPaz. this could be the worlds longest swimming pool. Ideal for people who do not want stings by jellyfish, auga Marlas, sting rays, sharks and so on. no fish. would have little fun islands. and people could get ingreat shape swimming miles. this would fill the hotels in the entire town.

a similar one was done in south america. their water was swimmable but the safety this gives made the resort world class. here is a picture of it




http://www.snopes.com/photos/architecture/largestpool.asp
this one is 1000 yards long... so the LaPaz one would be at 1 mile to have a better record. this would bring tourists from the mainland to LaPaz for the summer, so LaPaz would have business year round.

more from the companies website for the
http://www.aps.com/main/green/Solana/Technology.html



here is solar energy footprint in usa, baja is as good as best place in the USA if not better.
http://www.nrel.gov/gis/solar.html
http://rredc.nrel.gov/solar/old_data/nsrdb/redbook/atlas/
http://www.fastcompany.com/blog/ariel-schwartz/sustainability/where-are-best-spots-future-solar-energy-projects

here is one that went online in 2007 in Boulder City Nevada, USA

64MW Solar Installation About To Be Switched On!
by Justin Thomas, Virginia on 03.16.07
http://www.treehugger.com/files/2007/03/nevada_solar_on.php

One of the world's largest solar installation is about to be switched on. The project is called Nevada Solar One, and it is projected to generate 64 megawatts, when it is operational. It covers 300 acres and contain 760 mirror arrays, each measuring about 100 meters. The total number of mirrors is approximately 184,000. The solar power plant will go live next month in Boulder City, Nevada. The mirrors direct sunlight on an oil-filled tube. The oil is then used to create steam, which turns a turbine.

this is another plant going up in the USA, it estimates that it will be delivering electricity at 12-14 cents per KWh. at a 30 year contract.

http://www.treehugger.com/files/2007...a_solar_on.php

Arizona's largest utility, Arizona Public Service, is announcing plans to build the world's largest "concentrating solar power" plant, a $1 billion project to spread parabolic mirrors over a 3-mile-square stretch of desert 70 miles southwest of Phoenix. To be designed and built by the Spanish firm Abengoa, it would generate 280 megawatts of electricity, or enough to power 70,000 homes.

The big issue with solar energy has been the cost. Brandt says the Solana plant is expected to generate electricity at 12 cents to 14 cents per kilowatt-hour, which is about 20 percent more than the cost of the other electricity that APS generates with its mix of nuclear, natural gas, and coal. But Brandt notes that since the price of the fuel is free, it's a 30-year contract with one big source of risk eliminated.

APS will purchase 100 percent of the plant’s energy output, pending approval from the Arizona Corporation Commission. The value of the produced energy will be about $4 billion over 30 years. According to APS President Don Brandt, the Phoenix location was chosen as “APS is committed to making Arizona the solar capital of the world and bringing affordable renewable energy to all our customers.” APS already provides its customers with 131.5 MW of renewable energy, enough to power more than 37,000 homes and within the last 90 days has announced two new major solar projects. The Solana plant will create about 1,500 construction jobs and, when completed, will employ about 85 highly-skilled technicians. APS and Abengoa Solar estimate the project will bring more than $1 billion in economic benefits to the state of Arizona.

Groundbreaking ceremony takes place at Solar Millennium’s Blythe plant

this is with USA labor costs to make it, and note it will be up and running in just 2.5 years. As we know in Mexico some things can happen really fast when they decide to do it vs the USA. the permitting process and such are so slow in the USA.

http://www.pv-tech.org/news/groundbreaking_ceremony_takes_place_at_solar_millenniums_blythe_plant

Construction on the world’s largest solar thermal power plant was officially begun at a groundbreaking ceremony held on Friday June 17th. Attending the ceremony for the Blythe solar power plant facility was US Secretary of the Interior Ken Salazar, California’s Governor Jerry Brown and Joseph DeConinck, Blythe’s mayor, as well as representatives of Solar Millennium and the Solar Trust of America.

The Blythe project, which consists of two power plants each with a net capacity of 242MW, received a loan guarantee to the tune of US$2.1 billion from the US Federal Financing Bank in April. The overall cost of the two plants is currently projected to reach US$2.8 billion, and both are expected to be connected to the grid by 2014.

http://www.eia.gov/energyexplained/index.cfm?page=solar_thermal_power_plants

Types of Solar Thermal Power Plants
http://www1.eere.energy.gov/solar/csp_program.html
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Concentrated_solar_power
Parabolic Troughs
Solar Dish

Solar Dish

A solar dish/engine system uses concentrating solar collectors that track the sun, so they always point straight at the sun and concentrate the solar energy at the focal point of the dish. A solar dish's concentration ratio is much higher than a solar trough's, typically over 2,000, with a working fluid temperature over 1380°F. The power-generating equipment used with a solar dish can be mounted at the focal point of the dish, making it well suited for remote operations or, as with the solar trough, the energy may be collected from a number of installations and converted to electricity at a central point.

The engine in a solar dish/engine system converts heat to mechanical power by compressing the working fluid when it is cold, heating the compressed working fluid, and then expanding the fluid through a turbine or with a piston to produce work. The engine is coupled to an electric generator to convert the mechanical power to electric power.

Parabolic Troughs

Parabolic troughs are used in the largest solar power facility in the world located in the Mojave Desert at Kramer Junction, California. This facility has operated since the 1980s and accounts for the majority of solar electricity produced by the electric power sector today.
A parabolic trough collector has a long parabolic-shaped reflector that focuses the sun's rays on a receiver pipe located at the focus of the parabola. The collector tilts with the sun as the sun moves from east to west during the day to ensure that the sun is continuously focused on the receiver.

Because of its parabolic shape, a trough can focus the sun at 30 to 100 times its normal intensity (concentration ratio) on the receiver pipe located along the focal line of the trough, achieving operating temperatures over 750°F.

Cost of electric real time. Wholesale $60.00-$36.00 /MHw
http://www.nyiso.com/public/index.jsp
http://www.eia.gov/cneaf/electricity/epm/table5_6_a.html
http://www.eia.gov/energyexplained/index.cfm?page=electricity_factors_affecting_prices

these are very high photvoltaic (PV)

http://www.pv-tech.org/news/crystalline_silicon_cost_per_watt_to_hit_us1_first_quarter_of_2012_predicts?utm_source=PV-Tech&utm_campaign=5a77bea0fc-Monday_June_20_newsletter6_20_2011&utm_medium=email

An important but unintended consequence of the global PV industry meeting at Intersolar Europe, held last week in Munich, Germany was a general fear that the market could decline this year after poor installation figures in key European markets stalled hope of continued growth. According to IHS iSuppli spot prices from the top Chinese brands had been running at US$1.49 per watt for c-Si modules before Intersolar, yet as the show prices had fallen to US$1.30 per watt. This has prompted the market research firm to guide prices to decline to the US$1 per watt by the first quarter of 2012.

the baja is a perfect place for reflective/thermal solar systems. It is considered one of the top places in the world for making use of the suns energy. PV (photovoltaic) is just too expensive and will degrade in a expected 30 year life. whereas the reflective/thermal plants are good for 50-100 years. Baja could begin solar farming of electricity and ship it to the mainland and or the USA. properly set up I bet these could provide shopping center shade. LaPaz could be the first city to mandate electric vehicles because the power is so cost effective. LaPaz could become the Solar Energy University and offer degrees on all aspects of this technology. In general LaPaz loses its best engineers because there are no real engineering jobs in the non-manufacturing area of the baja. This would create long term clean good paying jobs in the baja, thousands of them...

Our electric costs in the baja for second the main tier rates are about 27 pesos with tax per KiloWattHour. or about USD$0.25. In the USA the average for home use is about USD$0.10 San Diego for the high rate is USD$0.14. And in the USA commercial rates are even lower. The USA gives a substantial discount to businesses. In Canada the delivered cost of electricity is about 7 cents per KWh.

The cost to make electricity is as low as 2 cents a KWh made by nuclear power plants. And diesel plants being the highest. after that there are transmision and distribution fees. these fees are the equipment which is a standard around the world for wire transformers, no one has discounts here. As we know in the USA the power company linemen/installers employees make top level union wages. In the baja I have no idea what the costs are of the employees.

The new installations of solar thermal with US labor costs for set up in the USA are delivering power to consumers at USD$0.14. this is in a return of 20 years and these plants will last for 50-100 years so the price will be substantially less. Isn't it time baja begins setting up these farms and selling the power to the USA and mainland Mexico?

Baja sells renewable fruits and vegetables so why not farm electricity and bring in quality jobs that last for a hundred years that do less damage than agricultural farming does and help the US and mainland have clean energy and become energy independent.

the details are posted below in the next posts.