News about Solar, Wind and alternative green power technologies

There are more than a few options these days for companies who are trying to make a real go at producing renewable energy using the sun’s energy. The sun is one of the big factors when it comes to renewable energy. It is large, provides energy for the world as it is, as well as light, and it has an amazing effect when it comes to creating electricity.

We have talked about photovoltaic energy, and more concentrated solar thermal power ideas. However, there are other ideas too, other technologies for people to pick up on. One of these is the concept of using parabolic troughs. These are deceptively simple looking devices, the clue to their usefulness lying in their name. Think of a farmyard and think of the trough that many animals feed from. These are deep, and have a lot of capacity. The same goes for parabolic troughs. Lots of energy, lots of capacity to store it.

The troughs concentrate the sun’s energy through long and rectangular u-shaped mirrors. One thing to help you understand why these things are so exciting is the sheer size of the installations. They are absolutely gigantic, huge mirrors, which dwarf anyone who happens to be standing next to them. These mirrors are tilted so that they face the sun’s rays directly. This is the key to their power. The sunlight that is brought in by the mirrors is fed straight into a long pipe that runs down the length of the installation.

Flowing through the trough is some oil, or other such thermal fluid. This fluid is then heated up by the concentrated rays of the sun to a massive 400 degrees centigrade.  This fluid then goes through a series of special heat exchangers, which has the effect of producing steam that is incredibly hot, superheated in fact. And this, amazingly, is the secret.   Steam power.

The steam that is generated is used to power an electricity generator. California has nine of these beasts, and the power that they generate is fed into the Californian grid, which goes some way to show how it is very much possible to use this source of energy to produce electricity for very large surface areas and the cities that reside in them.

This is yet another source of renewable power. It has massive potential, just like much of the other renewable sources that are out there. What is different with this particular source is that it is highly reliable, and very cost effective.