Sun Power
Posted by Rome on September 22, 2008
The company is positive that it can do this at a cost of just 10
cents per kilowatt-hour, similar to the price of electricity from
burning natural gas in California—especially if a cost was imposed for
the emission of carbon dioxide, the leading greenhouse gas, which the
state’s Public Utilities Commission is considering doing.
Ausra will rely on a different kind of concentrating solar power
plant to deliver this grand development. French physicist Augustin
Fresnel showed in the 19th century that a large lens, like the
parabolic troughs of the existing solar-thermal plants, can be broken
down into smaller sections that deliver the same focus. Mills’ design
applies this by using a compact linear Fresnel reflector, which allows
for greater ground coverage, lower weight and greater durability than
precision-shaped parabolic mirrors. They’re not fragile like some other
solar technologies.
“You can drop stones on it and they bounce off,” Mills says. “We would be able to build these in Florida in the hurricane zone.”
