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DOE Assistant Secretary for Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy Alexander (Andy) Karsner and the Director General of Israel’s Ministry of National Infrastructure Yehezkel (Hezi) Kugler signed an agreement to further U.S. and Israel cooperation on advanced renewable energy and efficiency technologies. Activities include but are not limited to collaborative research and development of new and improved sources of high-temperature thermal energy storage; electric vehicle and plug-in hybrid electric vehicle battery technologies and utilization approaches; biofuel production and use, including enzyme catalysts for conversion of biomass to biofuel, using microalgae to produce biofuels, and boosting production by taking advantage of power plant CO₂ emissions to accelerate algae growth; and advanced technologies for efficient water desalinization techniques, such as photovoltaic-powered reverse osmosis.

**Blogger note: Mr Karsner together with two colleagues from the DOE and NREL came all the way to Israel to sign this important agreement. However, now it is incumbent upon us to take something up and put it into practice. We call upon American and Israeli institutes, industrial and commercial companies, as well as universities and energy centers - take measures to find some common ground for co-operation. And when you find an opportunity - don’t hesitate to challenge the ministries on both coutries inorder to make it happen.

From our experience, collaboration will take place in such a manner that DOE’s money will never leave the US….so you have to structure the co-operation in a way that is beneficial to both parties….

The coast is clear……we offer this blog for networking…. we’ll publish serious proposals and search for partners…lose no time…before the administration at the White house is changing… 

for more information you may write to: askdoe@ags-tech.com

 

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CVs could be sent to: jobs@ags-tech.com, Ref # 100082

 

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Above 12 years of thermal-solar (rankine and braytone cycles) experience, with vast experience in thermodynamics, heat & mass flow mathematical analysis, with at least 6 years of a senior management role in an electric power utility.

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Pls contact: jobs@ags-tech.com, ref.# 100070

This solar field is a scaled cross-section of a typical commercial plant and includes more than 1,600 full-size glass mirrors (heliostats) and a 60 meter tall tower topped by a solar boiler. The power tower and surrounding heliostats concentrate the sun’s energy onto the boiler, heating the water inside to 550° C, or over 1000° F. In a commercial plant, the utility-grade superheated steam will be piped from the boiler to a standard turbine where electricity will be generated, all at a much higher operating efficiency and lower cost than other solar power plants. From here, transmission lines would carry the power to homes and businesses. In order to conserve water, BrightSource uses air cooling to convert the steam back into water. The water is then returned to the boiler in a closed loop.

***Blogger comment: we are anxious to see if there are new developments/innovations, beside enhanced Heliostats’ control, and especially what kind of receiver is being used. Stay tuned  Thursday afternoon for updates….

by Richard Bilbao,

Local solar energy firms are waiting with bated breath as the U.S. Senate begins discussion on a bill that could extend solar and alternative energy tax credits another six years.

If passed, the Renewable Energy and Job Creation Act of 2008 (HR 6049), which was OK’d by the House on May 21, will:

• Extend the 30 percent investment tax credit for solar energy properties and fuel cell properties, which was set to expire this year, through 2014.
• Increase the annual investment credit cap from $2,000 to $4,000 for residential solar properties.
• Issue up to $2 billion in clean renewable energy bonds that will be used to finance alternative energy programs for public power providers and ­electric companies.

****Blogger comment: this is the thin edge of the wedge……but it is required taking much stronger and aggresive measures inorder to set the Energy security & independence topic on fire… the administration has to brace itself for isolating the evil forces that are playing with their oil reserves, but more important to leave no stone unturned, work our guts out until we bring to fruition the Herculean task of inventing new (clean) energy sources.

Only very few investors share the vision and the courage to invest in solar thermal next generation technologies. Most investors dose not have the capabilities to evaluate and assess the potential of new innovations; nevertheless they cannot afford ignoring the current trend of investing in the so called “Cleantech” opportunity. However, the big bucks are invested in companies that are either pursuing proven technologies (like Solel solar systems) or consist of experienced people with vast experience as systems integrators that have design and assembly experience  (like BrighSource).

 

This two leading solar thermal companies, Solel and LuzII/BrightSource, are both piggybacking on the success of the 354MW SEGS in California and prefer to utilize the sun on the lower temperatures range (400º-600ºC), rather than daring to go for higher concentration and Brayton cycles.   Brightsource has raised lately another 115MUSD from several corporate and venture investors, while Solel announced a few months ago a 105MUSD investment.

 

Solel invested huge efforts during the last years on developing new vacuum tube collectors to replace the previous LUZ heating collecting elements. Solel succeeded in enhancing the selective anti reflective with a new solar radiation shield designed to shield the glass to metal connection zone and the bellow connections, while improving the overall efficiency of the system.  It seems that by reducing tube replacement costs, Solel’s achievements contribute to reducing electricity production costs due to additional energy output.

 

Solel’s business model so far was on equipment sale, where they have a real advantage, despite Schott breathing down their neck. While Schott’s business model remains in providing technology/equipment, Solel, according to its president and CEO Avi Brenmiler, has taken a strategic decision to go for building and operating solar thermal power stations and even selling electricity to utilities, in parallel to ongoing investments in R&D and establishing its new production line in Spain.  

 

The German Schott, is enhancing its position and market share both in photovoltaics and solar thermal, where they continue concentrating on manufacturing and selling  receivers for parabolic trough thermal power plants to developers. So far, they are the leading manufacturer, with two solar receiver production lines, one in Mitterteich Germany and another in Sevilla Spain. And are planning a third one in Albuquerque, which will bring Schott’s worldwide receiver production capacity to more than 600MW per year.

 

Several experts are wondering whether Solel should remain in the manufacturing and selling technology business or is it the right track for them to go on selling electricity.

 

We admire Solel’s management decision to brace themselves and take root of selling electricity. This is where the big bucks are.  But don’t they need to be vertically integrated and join forces with strategic partners that are experienced in the electric power business? Will the 105USD investment be enough?

Fortune favor the brave – so we wish Solel to succeed in pushing the envelop!  

 

In another post we’ll further discuss this field, including other companies that are in the lime light and secured investments, like Luz2, eSolar and EDIG, that are pursuing solar power systems that use mirrors smaller and cheaper than conventional models, advanced control systems, and several thermal receiver towers, each with a field of heliostat mirrors, and a central power block with turbine and generator. Such designs take advantage of mass manufactured components, while the repetition of modules provides redundancy in the system, so that if one module goes off line, power continues to be generated by the other modules in the plant.

 

The competition between the trough and tower receivers is getting hotter, while the installed costs are in the same range of 3500 to 4000USD/Kw. On the other hand  trough smallest module consist of 50MW and towers’ of 25MW, although trough are already on a sound footing and the enhanced tower receivers did not receive the vote of confidence (yet).   

 

 

 

 

 

Merav Ankori, which has become an authority in the environmental and clean energy businesses, reveals tonight at Globes daily ’an innocent truth’ about Israel, as expressed so pure and simple by Al Gore: 

 

“I wish to ask, how is that here, in the land of the sun, there is no widespread use of solar energy? Although the know-how is here, it’s cloud-covered Germany that has an impressive solar energy industry”.

 

Mr Gore – you are going to meet today the people that can make the change: could you please convince them to make a reality check from time to time and realize that the sun is up already……. ? better late than never…

  

 

THIN FILM: Recently, researchers at the U.S. Department of Energy’s National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) announced that they have moved closer to creating a thin-film solar cell that can compete with the efficiency of the more common silicon-based solar cell. The CIGS thin-film solar cell recently reached 19.9 percent efficiency in testing at the lab, setting a new world record, as the NREL revealed on March 24th 2008.

 

CPV: While concentrator-based PV technologies have been around since the 1970s, they have received renewed interest in recent times. With very high concentrations, they have the potential to offer solar electricity for large-scale power generation, as long as the temperature of the cells can be kept low, and cheap and efficient optics can be developed for concentrating the light to very high levels. IBM said it developed a concentrator photovoltaics (CPV) cooling technology that can cool a solar cell from greater than 1,600 degrees Celsius to 85 C. IBM’s CPV technology uses a thin layer of a liquid metal made of a gallium and indium compound that is applied between the chip and a cooling block. These thermal interface layers transfer the heat from the chip to the cooling block so that the chip temperature can be kept low.

 

 

 

It seems that the Israeli government learned her lesson and is going to set the record straight by taking back part of the Solar thermal PQ Threshold Requirements and enhancing others. We call upon the government to take back the demand for continuous and successful operation and maintenance of at least one solar thermal power plant with at least 3 MW installed capacity connected to the grid over the past two years (section 2.2 in the PQ document). Also, we call upon the govenrment to rephrase section 2.1, so it will include major equipment suppliers, that supplied solar thermal technology to a grid connected power plant during the last two years with a total production capacity of not less than 3 MW Installed Capacity, which is still in operation.

 

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Riding on the wave of enormous interest by international companies in this first solar thermal power plant tender process (up to 250MW at Ashalim site), a governmental decision regarding another tender for a 150-200MW solar power plant at Timna Park (25 KM north to Eilat) is expected within a few weeks.

 

We call upon all relevant international entities to pick up the gauntlet!

 

For more information you may contact: solarthermal@cleanenergy.co.il