Eco Factor: Renewable energy power plant stores sun’s energy in the form of molten salt.
California-based SolarReserve is planning a new type of renewable energy power plant that will continue to generate electricity even after the sun goes down. The company is filing an application with California regulators to build a 150MW solar farm that can store seven hours of the sun’s energy in the form of molten salt.
Dubbed Rice Solar Energy Project, the plant will be based on the use of 17,500 large mirrors called heliostats that will be arrayed in a circle around a 538-foot concrete tower. These mirrors will concentrate sunlight onto a 100-foot receiver filled with 4.4 million gallons of liquid salt, heating the salt to 1050 degrees Fahrenheit.
This liquefied salt will flow through a steam-generating system to drive the turbine before being returned to the receiver to be heated again. The company expects that the salt will store enough heat to make the plant generate electricity for up to seven hours even after sunset.
Via: NY Times
