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Additionally, governments have created various financial incentives to encourage the use of solar power. [[Renewable portfolio standard]]s impose a government mandate that utilities generate or acquire a certain percentage of renewable power regardless of increased energy procurement costs. In most states, RPS goals can be achieved by any combination of solar, wind, biomass, [[landfill gas]], ocean, geothermal, [[municipal solid waste]], hydroelectric, hydrogen, or fuel cell technologies.<ref name="ajelp.com"/> In Canada, the Renewable Energy Standard Offer Program (RESOP), [[feed-in tariff|introduced]] in 2006<ref>[http://web.archive.org/web/20101129120327/http://powerauthority.on.ca/SOP/Page.asp?PageID=122&ContentID=6856&SiteNodeID=412&BL_ExpandID=190 RESOP Program Update – March 12, 2009]. powerauthority.on.ca</ref> and updated in 2009 with the passage of the Green Energy Act, allows residential homeowners in [[Ontario]] with solar panel installations to sell the energy they produce back to the grid at 42¢/kWh, while drawing power from the grid at an average rate of 6¢/kWh.<ref>[http://www.generationsolar.com/docs/soc.htm Solar program in Ontario]{{dead link|date=April 2011}}</ref> The program is designed to help promote the government's green agenda and lower the strain often placed on the energy grid at peak hours. In August, 2010 the proposed feed-in tariff was increased to 80¢/kWh for small, roof-top systems (≤10&nbsp;kW).<ref>[http://www.fit.powerauthority.on.ca/Storage/102/11128_FIT_Price_Schedule_August_13_2010.pdf Feed-In Tariff Prices for Renewable Energy Projects in Ontario]. fit.powerauthority.on.ca. 13 August 2010</ref>
Additionally, governments have created various financial incentives to encourage the use of solar power. [[Renewable portfolio standard]]s impose a government mandate that utilities generate or acquire a certain percentage of renewable power regardless of increased energy procurement costs. In most states, RPS goals can be achieved by any combination of solar, wind, biomass, [[landfill gas]], ocean, geothermal, [[municipal solid waste]], hydroelectric, hydrogen, or fuel cell technologies.<ref name="ajelp.com">Robert Glennon and Andrew M. Reeves, Solar Energy's Cloudy Future, 1 Ariz. J. Evtl. L. & Pol'y, 91, 106 (2010) available at http://ajelp.com/documents/GlennonFinal.pdf</ref> In Canada, the Renewable Energy Standard Offer Program (RESOP), [[feed-in tariff|introduced]] in 2006<ref>[http://web.archive.org/web/20101129120327/http://powerauthority.on.ca/SOP/Page.asp?PageID=122&ContentID=6856&SiteNodeID=412&BL_ExpandID=190 RESOP Program Update – March 12, 2009]. powerauthority.on.ca</ref> and updated in 2009 with the passage of the Green Energy Act, allows residential homeowners in [[Ontario]] with solar panel installations to sell the energy they produce back to the grid at 42¢/kWh, while drawing power from the grid at an average rate of 6¢/kWh.<ref>[http://www.generationsolar.com/docs/soc.htm Solar program in Ontario]{{dead link|date=April 2011}}</ref> The program is designed to help promote the government's green agenda and lower the strain often placed on the energy grid at peak hours. In August, 2010 the proposed feed-in tariff was increased to 80¢/kWh for small, roof-top systems (≤10&nbsp;kW).<ref>[http://www.fit.powerauthority.on.ca/Storage/102/11128_FIT_Price_Schedule_August_13_2010.pdf Feed-In Tariff Prices for Renewable Energy Projects in Ontario]. fit.powerauthority.on.ca. 13 August 2010</ref>


==Energy storage methods==
==Energy storage methods==

Revision as of 22:09, 4 January 2012

The PS10 concentrates sunlight from a field of heliostats onto a central tower.

Solar power is the conversion of sunlight into electricity, either directly using photovoltaics (PV), or indirectly using concentrated solar power (CSP). Concentrated solar power systems use lenses or mirrors and tracking systems to focus a large area of sunlight into a small beam. Photovoltaics convert light into electric current using the photoelectric effect.[1]

Commercial concentrated solar power plants were first developed in the 1980s. The 354 MW SEGS CSP installation is the largest solar power plant in the world, located in the Mojave Desert of California. Other large CSP plants include the Solnova Solar Power Station (150 MW) and the Andasol solar power station (150 MW), both in Spain. The 200 MW Golmud Solar Park in China, is the world’s largest photovoltaic plant.

Applications

Average insolation showing land area (small black dots) required to replace the world primary energy supply with solar electricity. 18 TW is 568 Exajoule (EJ) per year. Insolation for most people is from 150 to 300 W/m2 or 3.5 to 7.0 kWh/(m2day).

Solar power is the conversion of sunlight into electricity. Sunlight can be converted directly into electricity using photovoltaics (PV), or indirectly with concentrated solar power (CSP), which normally focuses the sun's energy to boil water which is then used to provide power. Other technologies also exist, such as Stirling engine dishes which use a Stirling cycle engine to power a generator. Photovoltaics were initially used to power small and medium-sized applications, from the calculator powered by a single solar cell to off-grid homes powered by a photovoltaic array.

Concentrating solar power

Concentrating Solar Power (CSP) systems use lenses or mirrors and tracking systems to focus a large area of sunlight into a small beam. The concentrated heat is then used as a heat source for a conventional power plant. A wide range of concentrating technologies exists; the most developed are the parabolic trough [discuss], the concentrating linear fresnel reflector, the Stirling dish and the solar power tower. Various techniques are used to track the Sun and focus light. In all of these systems a working fluid is heated by the concentrated sunlight, and is then used for power generation or energy storage.[2]

A parabolic trough consists of a linear parabolic reflector that concentrates light onto a receiver positioned along the reflector's focal line. The receiver is a tube positioned right above the middle of the parabolic mirror and is filled with a working fluid. The reflector is made to follow the Sun during the daylight hours by tracking along a single axis. Parabolic trough systems provide the best land-use factor of any solar technology.[3] The SEGS plants in California and Acciona's Nevada Solar One near Boulder City, Nevada are representatives of this technology.[4][5] Compact Linear Fresnel Reflectors are CSP-plants which use many thin mirror strips instead of parabolic mirrors to concentrate sunlight onto two tubes with working fluid. This has the advantage that flat mirrors can be used which are much cheaper than parabolic mirrors, and that more reflectors can be placed in the same amount of space, allowing more of the available sunlight to be used. Concentrating linear fresnel reflectors can be used in either large or more compact plants.[6][7]

The Stirling solar dish combines a parabolic concentrating dish with a Stirling engine which normally drives an electric generator. The advantages of Stirling solar over photovoltaic cells are higher efficiency of converting sunlight into electricity and longer lifetime. Parabolic dish systems give the highest efficiency among CSP technologies.[8] The 50 kW Big Dish in Canberra, Australia is an example of this technology.[4]

A solar power tower uses an array of tracking reflectors (heliostats) to concentrate light on a central receiver atop a tower. Power towers are more cost effective, offer higher efficiency and better energy storage capability among CSP technologies.[4] The PS10 Solar Power Plant and PS20 solar power plant are examples of this technology.

Photovoltaics

The 71.8 MW Lieberose Photovoltaic Park in Germany.

A solar cell, or photovoltaic cell (PV), is a device that converts light into electric current using the photoelectric effect. The first solar cell was constructed by Charles Fritts in the 1880s.[9] In 1931 a German engineer, Dr Bruno Lange, developed a photo cell using silver selenide in place of copper oxide.[10] Although the prototype selenium cells converted less than 1% of incident light into electricity, both Ernst Werner von Siemens and James Clerk Maxwell recognized the importance of this discovery.[11] Following the work of Russell Ohl in the 1940s, researchers Gerald Pearson, Calvin Fuller and Daryl Chapin created the silicon solar cell in 1954.[12] These early solar cells cost 286 USD/watt and reached efficiencies of 4.5–6%.[13]

Photovoltaic power systems

Simplified schematics of a grid-connected residential PV power system[14]

Solar cells produce direct current (DC) power, which fluctuates with the intensity of the irradiated light. This usually requires conversion to certain desired voltages or alternating current (AC), which requires the use of the inverters.[14] Multiple solar cells are connected inside the modules. Modules are wired together to form arrays, then tied to inverter, which produces power with the desired voltage, and frequency/phase (when its AC).[14]

Many residential systems are connected to the grid wherever available, especially in the developed countries with large markets.[15] In these grid-connected PV systems, use of energy storages are optional. In certain applications such as satellites, lighthouses, or in developing countries, batteries or additional power generators are often added as back-ups, which forms stand-alone power systems.

Development and deployment

Nellis Solar Power Plant, 14 MW power plant installed 2007 in Nevada, USA

The early development of solar technologies starting in the 1860s was driven by an expectation that coal would soon become scarce. However, development of solar technologies stagnated in the early 20th century in the face of the increasing availability, economy, and utility of coal and petroleum.[16] In 1974 it was estimated that only six private homes in all of North America were entirely heated or cooled by functional solar power systems.[17] The 1973 oil embargo and 1979 energy crisis caused a reorganization of energy policies around the world and brought renewed attention to developing solar technologies.[18][19] Deployment strategies focused on incentive programs such as the Federal Photovoltaic Utilization Program in the US and the Sunshine Program in Japan. Other efforts included the formation of research facilities in the US (SERI, now NREL), Japan (NEDO), and Germany (Fraunhofer Institute for Solar Energy Systems ISE).[20]

Between 1970 and 1983 photovoltaic installations grew rapidly, but falling oil prices in the early 1980s moderated the growth of PV from 1984 to 1996. Since 1997, PV development has accelerated due to supply issues with oil and natural gas, global warming concerns, and the improving economic position of PV relative to other energy technologies.[21] Photovoltaic production growth has averaged 40% per year since 2000 and installed capacity reached 39.8 GW at the end of 2010,[22] of them 17.4 GW in Germany. As of October 2011, the largest photovoltaic (PV) power plants in the world are the Sarnia Photovoltaic Power Plant (Canada, 97 MW), Montalto di Castro Photovoltaic Power Station (Italy, 84.2 MW) and Finsterwalde Solar Park (Germany, 80.7 MW).[23]

There are also many large plants under construction. The Desert Sunlight Project is a 550 MW solar power plant under construction in Riverside County, California, that will use thin-film solar photovoltaic modules made by First Solar.[24] The Topaz Solar Farm is a 550 MW photovoltaic power plant, being built in San Luis Obispo County, California.[25] The Blythe Solar Power Project is a 500 MW photovoltaic station under construction in Riverside County, California. The Agua Caliente Solar Project is a 290 megawatt photovoltaic solar generating facility being built in Yuma County, Arizona. The California Valley Solar Ranch (CVSR) is a 250 megawatt (MW) solar photovoltaic power plant, which is being built by SunPower in the Carrizo Plain, northeast of California Valley.[26] The 230 MW Antelope Valley Solar Ranch is a First Solar photovoltaic project which is under construction in the Antelope Valley area of the Western Mojave Desert, and due to be completed in 2013.[27]

World's largest photovoltaic power stations (50 MW or larger)[23]
PV power station Country DC peak power
(MWp)
Notes
Golmud Solar Park[28][29][30][23] China 200 Completed 2011
Sarnia Photovoltaic Power Plant[31] Canada 97[23] Constructed 2009–2010[32]
Montalto di Castro Photovoltaic Power Station[23] Italy 84.2 Constructed 2009–2010
Finsterwalde Solar Park[33][34] Germany 80.7 Phase I completed 2009, phase II and III 2010
Ohotnikovo Solar Park Ukraine 80 Completed 2011
Solarpark Senftenberg[23][35] Germany 78 Phase II and III completed 2011, another 70 MW phase planned
Lieberose Photovoltaic Park [36][37] Germany 71.8
Rovigo Photovoltaic Power Plant[38][39] Italy 70 Completed November 2010
Olmedilla Photovoltaic Park Spain 60 Completed September 2008
Strasskirchen Solar Park Germany 54
Puertollano Photovoltaic Park Spain 50 opened 2008

Commercial concentrating solar thermal power (CSP) plants were first developed in the 1980s. The 354 MW SEGS CSP installation is the largest solar power plant in the world, located in the Mojave Desert of California. Other large CSP plants include the Solnova Solar Power Station (150 MW), the Andasol solar power station (150 MW), and Extresol Solar Power Station (100 MW), all in Spain. The 370 MW Ivanpah Solar Power Facility, located in California's Mojave Desert, is the world’s largest solar thermal power plant project currently under construction.

Largest operational solar thermal power stations
Capacity
(MW)
Name Country Location Notes
354 Solar Energy Generating Systems  USA Mojave Desert California Collection of 9 units
150 Solnova Solar Power Station  Spain Seville Completed 2010
[40][41][42]
150 Andasol solar power station  Spain Granada completed 2011, with 7.5h thermal energy storage[43][44]
100 Extresol Solar Power Station  Spain Torre de Miguel Sesmero (Badajoz) Completed December 2010[45][46][47]
75 Martin Next Generation Solar Energy Center  USA Florida steam input into a combined cycle [48]
64 Nevada Solar One  USA Boulder City, Nevada

Economics

Projection of levelized cost of PV energy in Europe.[49]

Bloomberg New Energy Finance, in March 2011, put the 2010 cost of solar panels at $1.80 per watt, but estimated that the price would decline to $1.50 per watt by the end of 2011.[50] Nevertheless, there are exceptions-- Nellis Air Force Base is receiving photoelectric power for about 2.2 ¢/kWh and grid power for 9 ¢/kWh.[51][52] Also, since PV systems use no fuel and modules typically last 25 to 40 years, the International Conference on Solar Photovoltaic Investments, organized by EPIA, has estimated that PV systems will pay back their investors in 8 to 12 years.[53] As a result, since 2006 it has been economical for investors to install photovoltaics for free in return for a long term power purchase agreement. Fifty percent of commercial systems were installed in this manner in 2007 and it is expected that 90% will by 2009.[54]

As of 2011, the cost of PV has fallen well below that of nuclear power and is set to fall further. The average retail price of solar cells as monitored by the Solarbuzz group fell from $3.50/watt to $2.43/watt over the course of 2011, and a decline to prices below $2.00/watt seems inevitable:

For large-scale installations, prices below $1.00/watt are now common. In some locations, PV has reached grid parity, the cost at which it is competitive with coal or gas-fired generation. More generally, it is now evident that, given a carbon price of $50/ton, which would raise the price of coal-fired power by 5c/kWh, solar PV will be cost-competitive in most locations. The declining price of PV has been reflected in rapidly growing installations, totalling about 23 GW in 2011. Although some consolidation is likely in 2012, as firms try to restore profitability, strong growth seems likely to continue for the rest of the decade. Already, by one estimate, total investment in renewables for 2011 exceeded investment in carbon-based electricity generation.[55]

Additionally, governments have created various financial incentives to encourage the use of solar power. Renewable portfolio standards impose a government mandate that utilities generate or acquire a certain percentage of renewable power regardless of increased energy procurement costs. In most states, RPS goals can be achieved by any combination of solar, wind, biomass, landfill gas, ocean, geothermal, municipal solid waste, hydroelectric, hydrogen, or fuel cell technologies.[56] In Canada, the Renewable Energy Standard Offer Program (RESOP), introduced in 2006[57] and updated in 2009 with the passage of the Green Energy Act, allows residential homeowners in Ontario with solar panel installations to sell the energy they produce back to the grid at 42¢/kWh, while drawing power from the grid at an average rate of 6¢/kWh.[58] The program is designed to help promote the government's green agenda and lower the strain often placed on the energy grid at peak hours. In August, 2010 the proposed feed-in tariff was increased to 80¢/kWh for small, roof-top systems (≤10 kW).[59]

Energy storage methods

This energy park in Geesthacht, Germany, includes solar panels and pumped-storage hydroelectricity.
Seasonal variation of the output of the solar panels at AT&T Park in San Francisco

Solar energy is not available at night, making energy storage an important issue in order to provide the continuous availability of energy.[60] Both wind power and solar power are intermittent energy sources, meaning that all available output must be taken when it is available and either stored for when it can be used, or transported, over transmission lines, to where it can be used. Wind power and solar power tend to be somewhat complementary, as there tends to be more wind in the winter and more sun in the summer, but on days with no sun and no wind the difference needs to be made up in some manner.[61] The Institute for Solar Energy Supply Technology of the University of Kassel pilot-tested a combined power plant linking solar, wind, biogas and hydrostorage to provide load-following power around the clock, entirely from renewable sources.[62]

Solar energy can be stored at high temperatures using molten salts. Salts are an effective storage medium because they are low-cost, have a high specific heat capacity and can deliver heat at temperatures compatible with conventional power systems. The Solar Two used this method of energy storage, allowing it to store 1.44 TJ in its 68 m³ storage tank, enough to provide full output for close to 39 hours, with an efficiency of about 99%.[63]

Off-grid PV systems have traditionally used rechargeable batteries to store excess electricity. With grid-tied systems, excess electricity can be sent to the transmission grid. Net metering programs give these systems a credit for the electricity they deliver to the grid. This credit offsets electricity provided from the grid when the system cannot meet demand, effectively using the grid as a storage mechanism. Credits are normally rolled over month to month and any remaining surplus settled annually.[64]

Pumped-storage hydroelectricity stores energy in the form of water pumped when surplus electricity is available, from a lower elevation reservoir to a higher elevation one. The energy is recovered when demand is high by releasing the water: the pump becomes a turbine, and the motor a hydroelectric power generator.[65]

Artificial photosynthesis involves the use of nanotechnology to store solar electromagnetic energy in chemical bonds, by splitting water to produce hydrogen fuel or then combining with carbon dioxide to make biopolymers such as methanol. Many large national and regional research projects on artificial photosynthesis are now trying to develop techniques integrating improved light capture, quantum coherence methods of electron transfer and cheap catalytic materials that operate under a variety of atmospheric conditions.[66]

Experimental solar power

Concentrating photovoltaics in Catalonia, Spain

Concentrated photovoltaics (CPV) systems employ sunlight concentrated onto photovoltaic surfaces for the purpose of electrical power production. Solar concentrators of all varieties may be used, and these are often mounted on a solar tracker in order to keep the focal point upon the cell as the Sun moves across the sky.[67] Luminescent solar concentrators (when combined with a PV-solar cell) can also be regarded as a CPV system. Luminescent solar concentrators are useful as they can improve performance of PV-solar panels drastically.[68]

Thermoelectric, or "thermovoltaic" devices convert a temperature difference between dissimilar materials into an electric current. First proposed as a method to store solar energy by solar pioneer Mouchout in the 1800s,[69] thermoelectrics reemerged in the Soviet Union during the 1930s. Under the direction of Soviet scientist Abram Ioffe a concentrating system was used to thermoelectrically generate power for a 1 hp engine.[70] Thermogenerators were later used in the US space program as an energy conversion technology for powering deep space missions such as Cassini, Galileo and Viking. Research in this area is focused on raising the efficiency of these devices from 7–8% to 15–20%.[71]

Space-based solar power is a theoretical design for the collection of solar power in space, for use on Earth. SBSP differs from the usual method of solar power collection in that the solar panels used to collect the energy would reside on a satellite in orbit, often referred to as a solar power satellite (SPS), rather than on Earth's surface. In space, collection of the Sun's energy is unaffected by the day/night cycle, weather, seasons, or the filtering effect of Earth's atmospheric gases. Average solar energy per unit area outside Earth's atmosphere is on the order of ten times that available on Earth's surface.

See also

Notes

  1. ^ "Energy Sources: Solar". Department of Energy. Retrieved 19 April 2011.
  2. ^ Martin and Goswami (2005), p. 45
  3. ^ Concentrated Solar Thermal Power – Now Retrieved 19 August 2008
  4. ^ a b c "Concentrating Solar Power in 2001 – An IEA/SolarPACES Summary of Present Status and Future Prospects" (PDF). International Energy Agency – SolarPACES. Retrieved 2 July 2008.
  5. ^ "UNLV Solar Site". University of Las Vegas. Retrieved 2 July 2008.
  6. ^ "Compact CLFR". Physics.usyd.edu.au. 12 June 2002. Retrieved 19 April 2011.
  7. ^ "Ausra compact CLFR introducing cost-saving solar rotation features" (PDF). Retrieved 19 April 2011.
  8. ^ "An Assessment of Solar Energy Conversion Technologies and Research Opportunities" (PDF). Stanford University – Global Climate Change & Energy Project. Retrieved 2 July 2008.
  9. ^ Perlin (1999), p. 147
  10. ^ "Magic Plates, Tap Sun For Power". Popular Science. June 1931. Retrieved 19 April 2011.
  11. ^ Perlin (1999), pp. 18–20
  12. ^ Perlin (1999), p. 29
  13. ^ Perlin (1999), p. 29–30, 38
  14. ^ a b c Solar Cells and their Applications Second Edition, Lewis Fraas, Larry Partain, Wiley, 2010, ISBN 978-0-470-44633-1 , Section10.2.
  15. ^ Trends in Photovoltaic Applications Survey report of selected IEA countries between 1992 and 2009, IEA-PVPS. Retrieved on 2011-11-08.
  16. ^ Butti and Perlin (1981), p. 63, 77, 101
  17. ^ "The Solar Energy Book-Once More." Mother Earth News 31:16–17, Jan. 1975
  18. ^ Butti and Perlin (1981), p. 249
  19. ^ Yergin (1991), pp. 634, 653–673
  20. ^ "Chronicle of Fraunhofer-Gesellschaft". Fraunhofer-Gesellschaft. Retrieved 4 November 2007.
  21. ^ Solar: photovoltaic: Lighting Up The World retrieved 19 May 2009
  22. ^ BP Statistical World Energy Review 2011 (XLS), retrieved 8 August 2011
  23. ^ a b c d e f PV Resources.com (2011). World's largest photovoltaic power plants
  24. ^ "DOE Closes on Four Major Solar Projects". Renewable Energy World. 30 September 2011.
  25. ^ Steve Leone (7 December 2011). "Billionaire Buffett Bets on Solar Energy". Renewable Energy World.
  26. ^ "NRG Energy Completes Acquisition of 250-Megawatt California Valley Solar Ranch from SunPower". MarketWatch. 30 September 2011.
  27. ^ "Exelon purchases 230 MW Antelope Valley Solar Ranch One from First Solar". Solar Server. 4 October 2011.
  28. ^ Enbridge Huanghe Company: Golmud 200MW PV Station Connected to Gridm
  29. ^ CCTV: China-PV Power Station
  30. ^ Samil Power: Utility Scale Projects
  31. ^ "Enbridge Inc. buys Sarnia solar farm". Theobserver.ca. Retrieved 19 April 2011.
  32. ^ "Sarnia Solar Project Celebration". Enbridge.com. 7 October 2010. Retrieved 19 April 2011.
  33. ^ "Good Energies, NIBC Infrastructure Partners acquire Finsterwalde II and Finsterwalde III". Pv-tech.org. 26 October 2010. Retrieved 19 April 2011.
  34. ^ "Implementation of the 39 MWp – „Solar Park Finsterwalde II and Finsterwalde III"" (PDF). Retrieved 19 April 2011.
  35. ^ 78 MW of the world’s largest solar photovoltaic plant connected to grid in Senftenberg, Germany. SolarServer. Retrieved on 2011-11-08.
  36. ^ Germany Turns On World's Biggest Solar Power Project. Spiegel.de. 20 August 2009. Retrieved on 2011-11-08.
  37. ^ Debasish Choudhury Lieberose solar farm becomes Germany's biggest, World's second-biggest. Global Solar Technology. 20 August 2009
  38. ^ "SunEdison sells Europe's largest solar plant to First Reserve". Ecoseed.org. 6 October 2010. Retrieved 19 April 2011.
  39. ^ "First Reserve buys 70 MW solar plant from SunEdison". Renewableenergyfocus.com. 6 October 2010. Retrieved 19 April 2011.
  40. ^ RSS Feed for Craig Rubens Email Craig Rubens Craig Rubens (8 August 2008). "Abengoa Rakes in $426M for 4 Solar Power Plants". Earth2tech.com. Retrieved 19 April 2011.
  41. ^ "Abengoa Solar begins commercial operation of Solnova 3". Abengoasolar.com. 24 May 2010. Retrieved 19 April 2011.
  42. ^ "Abengoa Solar Reaches Total of 193 Megawatts Operating". Abengoasolar.com. 2 August 2010. Retrieved 19 April 2011.
  43. ^ Andasol 1 has started test run. Solarmillennium.de (2008-10-15). Retrieved on 2011-11-08.
  44. ^ The Construction of the Andasol Power Plants. Solarmillennium.de (2011-10-12). Retrieved on 2011-11-08.
  45. ^ Lokalizacion de Centrales Termosolares en Espana. Protermosolar.com. Retrieved on 2011-11-08.
  46. ^ Jose Alfonso Nebrera Solar Thermal Power Generation – A Spanish Success Story. ACS SCE. 26 February 2008
  47. ^ ACS launches the operation phase of its third dispatchable 50 MW thermal power plant in Spain, Extresol-1. (PDF) . Retrieved on 2011-11-08.
  48. ^ Here comes the sun! FPL's Next Generation Solar Energy Center to be world's first hybrid solar plant, first utility-scale solar facility in Florida. Fpl.com (2008-12-02). Retrieved on 2011-11-08.
  49. ^ Solar Photovoltaics Competing in the Energy Sector, W. Hoffman, 8th European PV Industry Summit, September 2011(Link to the document in the "presentation" section)
  50. ^ Yasu, Mariko, and Maki Shiraki, (Bloomberg) "Silver lining in sight for makers of solar panels", Japan Times, 22 April 2011, p. 7.
  51. ^ Nellis Solar Power System. nellis.af.mil
  52. ^ "An Argument for Feed-in Tariffs" (PDF). European Photovoltaic Industry Association. Retrieved 9 June 2008.
  53. ^ "3rd International Conference on Solar Photovoltaic Investments". Pvinvestmentconference.org. Retrieved 19 April 2011.
  54. ^ Solar Power Services: How PPAs are Changing the PV Value Chain 11 February 2008, retrieved 21 May 2009 [1]
  55. ^ John Quiggin (January 3, 2012). "The End of the Nuclear Renaissance". National Interest. {{cite web}}: Cite has empty unknown parameter: |1= (help)
  56. ^ Robert Glennon and Andrew M. Reeves, Solar Energy's Cloudy Future, 1 Ariz. J. Evtl. L. & Pol'y, 91, 106 (2010) available at http://ajelp.com/documents/GlennonFinal.pdf
  57. ^ RESOP Program Update – March 12, 2009. powerauthority.on.ca
  58. ^ Solar program in Ontario[dead link]
  59. ^ Feed-In Tariff Prices for Renewable Energy Projects in Ontario. fit.powerauthority.on.ca. 13 August 2010
  60. ^ Carr (1976), p. 85
  61. ^ Wind + sun join forces at Washington power plant Retrieved 31 January 2008
  62. ^ "The Combined Power Plant: the first stage in providing 100% power from renewable energy". SolarServer. 2008. Retrieved 10 October 2008. {{cite web}}: Unknown parameter |month= ignored (help)
  63. ^ "Advantages of Using Molten Salt". Sandia National Laboratory. Retrieved 29 September 2007.
  64. ^ "PV Systems and Net Metering". Department of Energy. Archived from the original on 4 July 2008. Retrieved 31 July 2008.
  65. ^ "Pumped Hydro Storage". Electricity Storage Association. Retrieved 31 July 2008.
  66. ^ Collings AF, Critchley C. Artificial Photosynthesis. From Basic Biology to Industrial Application. Wiley-VCH. Weinheim (2005) p. x ISBN 3527310908 doi:10.1002/3527606742.
  67. ^ MSU-CSET Participation Archive with notation in the Murray Ledger & Times
  68. ^ Layton, Julia (5 November 2008). "What is a luminescent solar concentrator?". Science.howstuffworks.com. Retrieved 19 April 2011.
  69. ^ Perlin and Butti (1981), p. 73
  70. ^ Halacy (1973), p. 76
  71. ^ Tritt (2008), pp. 366–368

References

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