Gas powered Solar Energy

[Spoonman]

In the latest scam involving Solar Power a dark secret is found. Solar Plants will be powered with Natural gas.

Imagine, we get to pay more money for Green Energy but the dark secret is that energy will be coming from Natural Gas.

What will prevent these large solar projects from simply providing all their energy from cheaper natural gas.

Either way, Solar is going to produce more green house gas than nuclear or even a natural gas powered plant, Solar is now Natural Gas powered.

Ivanpah Solar Electric Generating System 07-AFC-05

Each plant also includes a partial-load natural gas-fired steam boiler, which would be used for thermal input to the turbine during the morning start-up cycle to assist the plant in coming up to operating temperature more quickly. The boiler would also be operated during transient cloudy conditions, in order to maintain the turbine on-line and ready to resume production from solar thermal input, after the clouds pass. After the clouds pass and solar thermal input resumes, the turbine would be returned to full solar production

I think you need to go back and re read the article

 

[Spoonman]

I have solar on my house. It's great. I have no utility bills, in fact I sell the excess back to the grid. I get monthly SREC (clean energy credits) and i'm not producing carbon.

the system they are talking about here is a little different it isn't PV its passive. What you have to realize is that for every minute the sun is doing it's job, fossile fuels aren't being used.

 

[flacaltenn]

I have solar on my house. It's great. I have no utility bills, in fact I sell the excess back to the grid. I get monthly SREC (clean energy credits) and i'm not producing carbon.

the system they are talking about here is a little different it isn't PV its passive. What you have to realize is that for every minute the sun is doing it's job, fossile fuels aren't being used.

".....for every minute the sun is doing it's job, fossile fuels aren't being used" and neither is the back-up natgas or coal plant that the public is paying to staff and maintain for when the sun ....isn't.... ""doing it's job"".. OR more accurately, the coal or nat gas plant is STILL there providing the baseline load at a reduced output.. We LIKE paying twice for grid juice..

In reality, the utility may decide to operate the back-up plant ANYWAY and export the energy elsewhere for profit. With the emphasis on Conservation, this practice will get more and more common...