The Suncone Solar Power Generator

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6. TECHNICAL FEASIBILITY ISSUES

It is a general rule of thumb that the design of a product dictates 80% of its manufacturing cost and maintenance cost as well. Therefore, getting the right design up front is important. HYTEC is very experienced in this arena and has in fact designed and built non-imaging optical components in the past. We are therefore very optimistic that, using our established design methodology, we can expand the innovative initial concepts developed by Dr. Prueitt and turn them into optimized, easy-to-manufacture, and cost-effective energy solutions.

Engineering development will involve the sealing of plastic film materials of the enclosure so that air leaks (if any) are sufficiently small so that a small blower or air pump can maintain the air pressure. Bonds between different plastic films of the system must be sufficiently strong to transmit the stresses. Insulating connectors must be developed to thermally isolate the plastics from the metal parts. Glass barriers must be designed to prevent convective heat loss. Means must be developed to prevent heat build-up inside the plastic materials. Preliminary calculations show that radiation will be sufficient.

7. Impact on Energy Problem / Benefit to New Mexico electric market

Suncone solar concentrators and Kinetic Pumps provide a new way to produce economical renewable electrical power. (Of course, Suncone can also generate steam to drive steam turbines). The Suncone collectors produce steam, which drives Kinetic Pumps to produce high-pressure water. Part of the water drives high-efficiency Pelton turbines to generate electric power. The rest of the water can flow to an elevated pumped-storage tank or pond during the daytime and then flow back down at night to drive the Pelton turbines so that electric power can be generated 24-hours per day. If there is sufficient capacity in the pumped storage, the power plant can run for several days of cloudiness. Below are listed two scenarios for possible Suncone power plants. The first one has no pumped storage.

7.1 50-Megawatt, 10 Hours per Day Plant

 Table 2 gives the costs for a 50-Megawatt Suncone power plant. It assumes an average of 10 hours per day of sunshine and assumes that cooling water is available. This condition can be met in some desert areas that are near an ocean or river. Table 2 shows costs for a plant designed to provide power to an electric grid during the daytime. It would require about 330 acres for the solar collectors, since space must be allowed between collectors to reduce shadowing.

Table 2. Projected Costs for a 50-MegaWatt Suncone Power Plant

The capital costs are $0.88 per installed watt capacity. If the cost of capital is 10% per year for 20 years, the annual capital costs would be $4,400,000. With operation and maintenance costs of $4,000,000 per year, the total cost for the electric power would be $8,400,000 per year. There would be no fuel costs. The cost of electricity would be 4.6 cents per kilowatt-hour. This is less than a third the cost of electricity produced by the 30-MW SEGS plant in New Mexico (4). The cost per kilowatt-hour is cost for electricity production and does not include profit.

7.2 50-Megawatt, 24 Hours per Day Plant

For a 50 MW Suncone plant that is located near the base of mountains, the Kinetic Pump is efficient in pumping water to an elevated reservoir so that the plant can run 24 hours per day. For a 50 MW plant, the Suncone collectors would need to have a larger total collecting area than that given in Table 2 in order to supply 50 MW during the day and lesser power during the night. Table 3 gives the costs for this plant. We assume that the average power for 24 hours would be 35 MW, with a high of 50 MW during the day and a low of 20 MW in the early morning hours.

Table 3. Projected Costs for a 50-MegaWatt Suncone Power Plant with pumped storage for 24 hour per day operation.

The annual capital costs would be $7,330,000. With an annual operation and maintenance of $5,000,000, the total expense would be $12,330,000, and the cost for electricity would be 4.0 cents per kilowatt-hour. Although this plant costs more than the plant of Table 2, the actual cost of electricity is less, because it produces more electric energy during the year. With rising fossil fuel costs, the Suncone plants will be competitive. Improvements in large-scale manufacturing of the Suncone collectors will bring down the cost of electric power production.

It should be noted that pumped storage is a more efficient method of energy storage than the use of phase-change salts to store heat. However, in places where the land is flat, phase-change salts can be used with the SUNCONE power plant.

8. MARKET CONNECTION

In the Project Summary of this document, it was mentioned that the U.S. Department of Energy is supporting a five-year plan to expand concentrating solar power in several Southwestern states by 1,000 MW (1).  The Western Governors' Association passed a resolution during their annual meeting in June 2004.  The resolution calls for the development of 30 gigawatts (GW) of clean energy (renewable energy and energy efficiency improvements) in the West by 2015 (1). If the cost of high-temperature solar collectors can be dramatically reduced, a large part of the 30 GW would come from solar energy via CSP. As Teagan (5) said, “The single most important cost elements for both technologies [trough and dish collectors] are those associated with the concentrator optics and associated means of absorbing concentrated solar energy and converting it into useful heat.”

If Suncone proves to be the most economical means of generating steam with solar energy, its manufacture would be most effectively done at locations near the points of use. Since New Mexico will probably be the largest user of the solar-generated electricity in the near future, that State would be the logical state in which to manufacture Suncone. However, Suncone could also be produced in other states for use in the U.S. and for export to foreign markets.

Spain plans to build a 50 MW plant that will need 549,000 square meters of solar troughs that will cost about $130 million (6).  355,000 square meters of Suncone could supply the same power and would cost $50 million, saving them $80 million.

Coste, Inc., ( 1911 Meadowlake Dr. , Mahomet , IL , 217-586-5316) became excited about the potential of Suncone in the solar power industry and wrote an 81-page business plan for its promotion. Coste is currently contacting investors to aid in the development of Suncone power and desalination plants. Coste will supply $25,000 in matching funds for the EISG grant. See the letter of commitment in the Appendix.

 TEECO International, Inc. , in Phoenix , Arizona , is interested in the possibility of using Suncone units in its distributed power systems. TEECO is involved in Wind, Solar, Bio-diesel powered electrical generators, Biomass, Landfill Gas, Geothermal renewable energy technologies. TEECO has set up a meeting with APS (Arizona Public Service) to discuss Suncone. TEECO has the following affiliates in New Mexico :

Introduction | Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4 | References