First Hyrbid Solar Thermal Power Plant In Florida!!

[Silhouette]

An epic project, the 75 megawatt facility is spread over 500 acres of FPL-owned land, and powers 11,000 Florida homes. It has also created over 1,000 jobs and, according to the plant’s own press release, will reduce fossil fuel consumption by approximately 41 billion cubic feet of natural gas and more than 600,000 barrels of oil. This will cut more than 2.75 million tons of greenhouse gas emissions and save FPL customers approximately $178 million in fuel costs over the facility’s estimated 30-year lifetime.

The Martin Energy Center is the world’s first plant to combine solar energy with natural gas. Other plants often use dual energy sources, but this is normally done by burning oil at times of low sunlight.


Read more: Florida Launches the World's First Hybrid Solar Energy Plant | Inhabitat - Sustainable Design Innovation, Eco Architecture, Green Building... Florida Launches the World's First Hybrid Solar Energy Plant | Inhabitat - Sustainable Design Innovation, Eco Architecture, Green Building

You know, I've been blogging about this for years and they FINALLY DID IT!! [I'm so excited that I misspelled "Hybrid" in the title!!]

Whoot Whoot! There may be hope after all. The stupid..the stupid is wearing off...our nation maybe, just maybe, has a fighting chance.

It is precisely the perfect combination to ease out of our manic addiction to fossil fuels.

Well done gentlemen...well done...

Now get to work on about 1,000 more of those and we'll be back in the saddle again. Just do me a favor though, name just one of them the "Silhouette" power plant!...lol.. Reallly, gawd, it took like 5 years of blogging and exposing this technology for a power company to finally say, "hey, we'd like to charge the same amount to our customers but only have to pay for carbon for 30 days out of each year."

Duh! DO THE MATH $$$$ These guys are going to cleeeeeaaaan up at the bank.

For those who won't visit the link, the plant I've been urging for at least 5 years is one of parabolic mirrors that track the sun and focus it on a central elevated tube of thermal oil that gets up to 300 degrees celsius. That's way way hotter than boiling water. Then they use heat exchangers to boil water that runs turbines just like at every other conventional power plant. They don't have the salt tanks for night storage, but because for financial reasons the petroleum industry needs to be slowly weaned, they've opted to run the turbines at night with natural gas. The option to store heat in molten salt tanks still exists though and to run lower heat refrigerant boilers at night.

But this is an excellent start.





...

 

[Shaarona]

The Farasan Island solar plant is 500 Watt kW and opened two years ago.

I am very leased for Florida.

 

[Defiant1]

So FPL spent $476 M to save $178 M over 30 years.

 

[Silhouette]

So FPL spent $476 M to save $178 M over 30 years.

My ass. Do you know what it means to not burn carbon and sell free energy from the sun for most of the year? It adds up to more than that pal. They'll probably have that plant paid off in five years. Imagine selling donuts and having to pay the overhead to truck in flour, sugar, salt, confections etc., energy for the ovens, the deep fryer, the lights in the display case and selling donuts to make a living. Then one day someone comes in and designs a system for you that costs maybe $10,000 [in relative terms to the outlay for the solar thermal plant] that will save you having to buy all those things in overhead to provide your customers with donuts. That's what this plant is. You sell your donuts at the same price but after that new machine is paid off in a couple of years, five maybe tops, you are selling your wares at an ungodly profit margin.

That's what's happened in Florida. They got a machine that provides free boiling water: which is the same as free energy. It's an embarassingly simple technology long known of but suppressed because boiling water with deadly radiation or polluting carbon was a much more tricky endeavor...and therefore..easier to monopolize..

 

[depotoo]

And the first major hurricane here will wipe those solar panels out in one fell swoop.

 

[Silhouette]

More...didn't realize this was just kicking off in 2012, early 2013. These plants are incredibly simple to set up and run. And like I suggested years ago, they decided to tag them onto existing carbon plants to reduce the carbon footprint. I assume the DOE allows power companies to charge the same rates as before as an incentive to really rake in cash.

Investors take note. This is the wave of the future. There is serious money in solar thermal power plants. And if BigOil succeeds in trashing their reputation or their infrastructure itself by designing faulty generators to switch over to natural gas to make it seem "unworkable", you can build your own solar thermal plant in your own town. They are unbelievably simple to construct if you have an inkling of an engineering degree. Moreover, they come with near zero environmetal hazards, unlike the many permits and hoops old-timey last century smudge burners or nuclear death machines have.

The U.S. Department of Energy announced plans on Monday, December 17, to provide as much as $20 million in funding to help develop a new class of concentrating solar power plants tied in with existing fossil fuel-fired generators. Unlike the more common photovoltaic solar systems, CSP produces power by using sunlight to heat water, which is then used to turn a turbine similar to those used in coal-, gas- and oil-fired power plants. The basic idea of these hybrid solar plants is to reduce the infrastructure cost for CSP by attaching them to existing turbines, and then using more easily controlled fossil fuel-fired generators to compensate for the intermittent nature of solar power. - See more at: DOE launches program to support solar thermal hybrid plants | www.genscape.com

 

[Silhouette]

And the first major hurricane here will wipe those solar panels out in one fell swoop.

Already sabotage is "suggested"..lol..

Hey, guess what? Those "panels" aren't panels. They aren't even a thumbnail as expensive to mass produce as solar photovoltaics. They are simply mirrors. Just parabolic mirrors. Formed steel. No circuitry at all except their sun trackers, which are also relative easy to construct.

And your solution when that hurricane wipes out the carbon generator sitting right next to this system? The nuclear power plant? Should we scrap those too? [we absolutely should for nuclear]. Silly. If I had to pick a power plant to revamp after a hurricane or increasingly common freak tornado swarms, it would be a solar thermal plant, hands down. Cheapest by far.

Instead of stewing in sour grapes and obviously schilling for the petroleum industry, why not just invest in a cash cow that solar thermal hybrid plants are and switch over to creating biodiesels. Guess what? Creating biodiesels are much less expensive than mining petroleum and the energy you use to create them can be gotten by...*drum roll*.... solar thermal heaters! Right in the Midwest you can set up a biodiesel plant. Right where the fuels to mix with petrol are made. Train or truck those down to your Texas refinery, sit back and watch the cash flow in.

You aren't going to roll the clock back on the good old boon days of big tuna boat passenger cars and unending military presence in the Middle East.

And, recent earthquakes in the Texas town being fracked, right near the well site are alarming. Particularly because a lateral shear earthquake can shatter a well casing allowing corrosive solvents and deadly chemicals to enter the last reserves of fresh water this nation has underground to use for agriculture. We are overdue for "The Big One" in the New Madrid fault running down the Mississippi River roughly. Because of the nature of the strata in the Midwest, the earthquakes there are felt and experienced at a much wider radius than like they get in California. They are felt for hundreds, sometimes many hundred of miles. That's within fracking areas.

Just stop. Stop it. The bottom line is your bottom line anyway guys. Just figure out new ways to corner the market, lobby Congress [you know the drill] to get your monopolies and sleep at night knowing your whores and cocaine parties are at least paid for by doing something good for the world while you're ripping the chumps blind at the pumps. Fair enough?

 

[ScienceRocks]

The republicans hate solar because the left supports it. Honestly the only reason they're against it.

 

[Silhouette]

The republicans hate solar because the left supports it. Honestly the only reason they're against it.

No, that's not true actually. They hate the idea because losing their monopoly on energy scares the crap out of them. But like I said in the last post, they can just switch their monopolies over to green energy and still have their cocaine parties while the chumps pay at the meter and the pumps. I don't care. I'm happy to pay their price as they make even more money on the cheaper ways to produce energy that just so happen to be better for the planet.

Good. Let them make cash. Just not by poisoning our country forever. Pretty cool compromise if you ask me.

 

[Delta4Embassy]

An epic project, the 75 megawatt facility is spread over 500 acres of FPL-owned land, and powers 11,000 Florida homes. It has also created over 1,000 jobs and, according to the plant’s own press release, will reduce fossil fuel consumption by approximately 41 billion cubic feet of natural gas and more than 600,000 barrels of oil. This will cut more than 2.75 million tons of greenhouse gas emissions and save FPL customers approximately $178 million in fuel costs over the facility’s estimated 30-year lifetime.

The Martin Energy Center is the world’s first plant to combine solar energy with natural gas. Other plants often use dual energy sources, but this is normally done by burning oil at times of low sunlight.


Read more: Florida Launches the World's First Hybrid Solar Energy Plant | Inhabitat - Sustainable Design Innovation, Eco Architecture, Green Building... Florida Launches the World's First Hybrid Solar Energy Plant | Inhabitat - Sustainable Design Innovation, Eco Architecture, Green Building

You know, I've been blogging about this for years and they FINALLY DID IT!! [I'm so excited that I misspelled "Hybrid" in the title!!]

Whoot Whoot! There may be hope after all. The stupid..the stupid is wearing off...our nation maybe, just maybe, has a fighting chance.

It is precisely the perfect combination to ease out of our manic addiction to fossil fuels.

Well done gentlemen...well done...

Now get to work on about 1,000 more of those and we'll be back in the saddle again. Just do me a favor though, name just one of them the "Silhouette" power plant!...lol.. Reallly, gawd, it took like 5 years of blogging and exposing this technology for a power company to finally say, "hey, we'd like to charge the same amount to our customers but only have to pay for carbon for 30 days out of each year."

Duh! DO THE MATH $$$$ These guys are going to cleeeeeaaaan up at the bank.

For those who won't visit the link, the plant I've been urging for at least 5 years is one of parabolic mirrors that track the sun and focus it on a central elevated tube of thermal oil that gets up to 300 degrees celsius. That's way way hotter than boiling water. Then they use heat exchangers to boil water that runs turbines just like at every other conventional power plant. They don't have the salt tanks for night storage, but because for financial reasons the petroleum industry needs to be slowly weaned, they've opted to run the turbines at night with natural gas. The option to store heat in molten salt tanks still exists though and to run lower heat refrigerant boilers at night.

But this is an excellent start.





...

Better than nothing I guess, but I'm not as excited as you about it since it's still burning nat gas. If it's doing that at night, or during cloudy days, it's still just a half-as-polluting power plant. So two of these kinds of plants is still as polluting as 1 conventional one. Better than 2 conventional ones, but still screwing up the planet, just not as much.

 

[Shaarona]

The republicans hate solar because the left supports it. Honestly the only reason they're against it.

No, that's not true actually. They hate the idea because losing their monopoly on energy scares the crap out of them. But like I said in the last post, they can just switch their monopolies over to green energy and still have their cocaine parties while the chumps pay at the meter and the pumps. I don't care. I'm happy to pay their price as they make even more money on the cheaper ways to produce energy that just so happen to be better for the planet.

Good. Let them make cash. Just not by poisoning our country forever. Pretty cool compromise if you ask me.

Funny.. the Saudis have been pouring money into solar research since 1980.

 

[Defiant1]

The republicans hate solar because the left supports it. Honestly the only reason they're against it.

Bull, Republicans are for things that make sense.

Does spending $476M to save $178M over 30 years make sense to you?

And that's if the solar panels last for 30 years, which I doubt since nothing lasts that long here in the Florida sun.

 

[zeke]

The republicans hate solar because the left supports it. Honestly the only reason they're against it.

Bull, Republicans are for things that make sense.

Does spending $476M to save $178M over 30 years make sense to you?

And that's if the solar panels last for 30 years, which I doubt since nothing lasts that long here in the Florida sun.

Mirrors and solar panels are not one and the same. This project uses mirrors.

 

[Silhouette]

The republicans hate solar because the left supports it. Honestly the only reason they're against it.

Bull, Republicans are for things that make sense.

Does spending $476M to save $178M over 30 years make sense to you?

And that's if the solar panels last for 30 years, which I doubt since nothing lasts that long here in the Florida sun.

This isn't a partisan topic. Or, if it is a partisan topic, it's not about partisan politics but rather partisan concepts of capitalism.

It's very plain and simple. As simple as solar thermal "technology" itself [really, just pointing mirrors at a tube and reflecting concentrated solar rays..oooooh!..lol..]. BigOil owns the GOP and so it "appears" like the GOP is against solar thermal...though I'm not sure why they would be? It's like an internal conflict. On the one hand their blind lust for money should urge them to make it at power companies in the cheapest way they can [solar thermal]. On the other hand their payoffs from BigOil make them shorten their range of thinking to "just today's yacht party".

I tend to think farther out than that. I tend to like our country. I also like capitalism. So that's why I said, let them make the tons more money they'll make by reducing their overhead with solar thermal and still charge us the same. It's fine with me. I'd be much happier paying my power bill or my charge at the pump knowing the power came from solar thermal or the fuel from seawater [hydrogen electrolysis] than from forever-death-to-the-planet-so-some-great-apes-could-get-short-term-rich-in-extra bananas technologies.

I mean, c'mon. Look around you. See all the horror stories from mining in the 1800s. The polluted waters with mercury from gold refining. Just the rampant "stupid" that old-timey profiteers left this country long after they died. These problems they left can NEVER be fixed. How much more of that can our pristine natural resources sustain before this is a crappy chemical stew, a 2nd nation, bereft of her once-beauty? Are we going to leave the US's natural beauty, fresh water and soils like some used up crack whore after just one generation? Or are we going to preserve her?

That lack of foresight is what I've always called "malignant capitalism". Benign capitalism is making money with an eye on future generations. And hey, if the Hindus are right, you many not just be leaving a diamond for future other people, you might just be leaving it for yourself.

 

[Defiant1]

The republicans hate solar because the left supports it. Honestly the only reason they're against it.

Bull, Republicans are for things that make sense.

Does spending $476M to save $178M over 30 years make sense to you?

And that's if the solar panels last for 30 years, which I doubt since nothing lasts that long here in the Florida sun.

Mirrors and solar panels are not one and the same. This project uses mirrors.

I know they're mirrors. It doesn't make a difference. How long can they be effective in the harsh sun, wind, and salt air?

 

[Defiant1]

And it only serves 11,000 homes.

That is nothing in the grand scheme of things.

 

[Silhouette]

And it only serves 11,000 homes.

That is nothing in the grand scheme of things.

You mean the EXISTING carbon plant only serves 11,000 homes. The solar thermal reflectors attached to that carbon plant were set up as an augment to the existing service. Your point is a non sequitor.

 

[Jarlaxle]

So FPL spent $476 M to save $178 M over 30 years.

Sounds about right for "green energy".

 

[Jarlaxle]

The republicans hate solar because the left supports it. Honestly the only reason they're against it.

No, stupid. Many people "hate" solar because it COSTS A FORTUNE and DOES NOT DELIVER! It really is that simple!

 

[Jarlaxle]

An epic project, the 75 megawatt facility is spread over 500 acres of FPL-owned land, and powers 11,000 Florida homes. It has also created over 1,000 jobs and, according to the plant’s own press release, will reduce fossil fuel consumption by approximately 41 billion cubic feet of natural gas and more than 600,000 barrels of oil. This will cut more than 2.75 million tons of greenhouse gas emissions and save FPL customers approximately $178 million in fuel costs over the facility’s estimated 30-year lifetime.

The Martin Energy Center is the world’s first plant to combine solar energy with natural gas. Other plants often use dual energy sources, but this is normally done by burning oil at times of low sunlight.


Read more: Florida Launches the World's First Hybrid Solar Energy Plant | Inhabitat - Sustainable Design Innovation, Eco Architecture, Green Building... Florida Launches the World's First Hybrid Solar Energy Plant | Inhabitat - Sustainable Design Innovation, Eco Architecture, Green Building

You know, I've been blogging about this for years and they FINALLY DID IT!! [I'm so excited that I misspelled "Hybrid" in the title!!]

Whoot Whoot! There may be hope after all. The stupid..the stupid is wearing off...our nation maybe, just maybe, has a fighting chance.

It is precisely the perfect combination to ease out of our manic addiction to fossil fuels.

Well done gentlemen...well done...

Now get to work on about 1,000 more of those and we'll be back in the saddle again. Just do me a favor though, name just one of them the "Silhouette" power plant!...lol.. Reallly, gawd, it took like 5 years of blogging and exposing this technology for a power company to finally say, "hey, we'd like to charge the same amount to our customers but only have to pay for carbon for 30 days out of each year."

Duh! DO THE MATH $$$$ These guys are going to cleeeeeaaaan up at the bank.

For those who won't visit the link, the plant I've been urging for at least 5 years is one of parabolic mirrors that track the sun and focus it on a central elevated tube of thermal oil that gets up to 300 degrees celsius. That's way way hotter than boiling water. Then they use heat exchangers to boil water that runs turbines just like at every other conventional power plant. They don't have the salt tanks for night storage, but because for financial reasons the petroleum industry needs to be slowly weaned, they've opted to run the turbines at night with natural gas. The option to store heat in molten salt tanks still exists though and to run lower heat refrigerant boilers at night.

But this is an excellent start.

Better than nothing I guess, but I'm not as excited as you about it since it's still burning nat gas. If it's doing that at night, or during cloudy days, it's still just a half-as-polluting power plant. So two of these kinds of plants is still as polluting as 1 conventional one. Better than 2 conventional ones, but still screwing up the planet, just not as much.

If it's a steam-turbine plant, it's worse than that: they have to burn natural gas (to keep steam up) even when the solar power plant is running at full capacity!