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Solar panel efficiency is inversely proportional to temperature, plus all that sand + wind is going to be adding to maintenance costs. There's better places to
by vasco 8y ago
Solar panel efficiency is inversely proportional to temperature, plus all that sand + wind is going to be adding to maintenance costs. There's better places to put solar panels than in the desert.
- sounds 8y agoYour concerns are interesting. Here are some solar power plants that appear to have the secret to overcoming temperature, sand, and wind. Any ideas what they're doing? • 1547 MW capacity: Tengger Desert Solar Park • 1000 MW capacity: Kurnool Ultra Mega Solar Park • 1000 MW capacity: Datong Solar Power Top Runner Base • 850 MW capacity: Longyangxia Dam Solar Park • 746 MW capacity: Bhadla Solar Park • 600 MW capacity: Pavagada Solar Park • 579 MW capacity: Solar Star, Rosamond, CA, United States • 552 MW capacity: Copper Mountain Solar Facility, Boulder City, NV, United States • 550 MW capacity: Topaz Solar Farm, San Luis Obispo County, CA, United States • 550 MW capacity: Desert Sunlight, Desert Center, CA, United States • 500 MW capacity: Huanghe Hydropower Golmud Solar Park • 452 MW capacity: Mount Signal Solar, Calexico, CA, United States • 400 MW capacity: Mesquite Solar Project, Arlington, AZ, United States • 140 W capacity: Mars Spirit Rover (ok, the experiment failed in 2011) • 140 W capacity: Mars Opportunity Rover
- pitaj 8y agoI'm not sure about any of these plants in particular, but a lot don't use PV cells, instead using mirrors to heat and evaporate a liquid, driving a turbine.
- perl4ever 8y agoI don't know whether it's accurate, but I've noticed people saying that these sorts of plants are kind of obsolete these days, because of the development of PV cells.
- notabee 8y agoIt's actually liquid sodium in newer designs, which retains heat well, is stored in an insulated tank, and can generate power using that heat even after the sun goes down. So no, I don't think they're obsolete. https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/new-concentrating-solar-tower-is-worth-its-salt-with-24-7-power/ https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/new-concentrating...
- perl4ever 8y agoFYI, liquid salt is not quite the same thing as liquid sodium. Source: someone I knew worked on liquid sodium power plants. Also, I think PV prices may have declined around 50% since that article was written.
- anyons6 8y agoWant to know something else that is fun about the concentrated thermal projects? If the sun is not available for long periods of time and the fluid cools down too much they have to dump energy into it to prevent it from solidify to point of overwhelming the pumps capacity!
- notabee 8y agoSounds like a good reason to keep that kind of generation in the desert, then. That's interesting, though. I suppose they could just divert some power generation to battery storage for those heaters though, just like nuclear reactors have backup generators for cooling.
- anyons6 8y agoNot necessarily obsolete, just uncompetitive. Many of the concentrated thermal systems can meet 30% efficiency but they usually are more of steel and plumbing projects than solar projects. On top of the high initial capital cost, they have higher maintenance as it is a system of high temperatures with moving parts.
- perl4ever 8y ago
- sounds 8y agoThey're all very, very publicly documented - just google it!
- anyons6 8y agoAll PV cells have a temperature coefficient that reduces their productivity in heat. some preform better than others. Thin-film is notable example. Placing large PV farms in the desert is mainly about two things: High insolation value and cheap land that is easy to build on. Many of the desert regions have very few cloudy days each year offering more available sunlight hours improving the annual production of the system. Second, land in the desert regions are orders of magnitude cheaper to buy than other areas. This drives down overall project cost and improves the IRR. In addition to the land being cheap, it hold little economic value for much else. If it can be used for generating power, then local authorities are often favorable when reviewing these projects.
- kamaal 8y agoGiven how efficient robots are getting these days. Cleaning panels is not that hard. And yeah, Deserts work well given how predictable the weather is there. Don't forget consistency is an another factor.
- anyons6 8y agoIt is harder than you might think. Not all dirt adheres the same way. Dried bird dropping are significantly more resistant to abrasive cleaning than settled dust. On top of that the opacity is much more problematic for the cell as it creates a resistive hotspot.
- kamaal 8y agoBirds won't be flying around in a desert where they can't find water. Maintenance problems exist with dams or for that matter with any power generation mechanism. None of these are show stopper problems.
- anyons6 8y agoI agree module cleaning is not a showstopper, but it does have its challenges. -Birds fly everywhere; can't hide from them. It can be hard to diagnose some of the problems they create. "Robotic" cleaning is really not as common as the headlines make it seem. A couple of big projects have used them to target settled dust that can be removed without water. For most projects, the robotic systems don't pencil out and people default to paying a small crew every couple of months to go out and wash them.