solar energy news briefs Testing at NREL
For the next several months, engineers at the National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) will be testing the performance of the SkyTrough, SkyFuel’s high-performance, low-cost parabolic trough receiver for use in utility scale solar power system. The SkyTrough will be mounted on NREL’s Large
Payload Solar Tracker, which supports solar components that require dual-axis tracking. The testing will focus on confirming SkyTrough’s system efficiency. The SkyTrough will remain at this test site for at least three seasons to verify the performance under a variety of weather conditions and sun angles. SkyFuel | www.skyfuel.com
Safeguarding against storm damage
When Hurricane Kyrill swept across Europe in January 2007, it left a trail of devastation behind it. The storm reached gusts of up to 225 km/h, took 47 lives and, in Germany alone, it caused damage amounting to Euro 4.3 billion. A two-
www.hitbarcelona.com
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megawatt solar plant, valued at around 10 million Euros, was destroyed. “In future we will have to reckon with more and more storms like this,” said Artur Deger, founder and managing director of DEGERenergie. “This is why it is so important to actively deal with the subject, rather than just waiting for something bad to happen. After all, there are currently new solar plants being put up everywhere.” According to Deger, the problem begins with legislation: “Up to now, there have been no pertinent guidelines for erecting photovoltaic plants. It has not even been decided whether such a plant is to be classified as a building or a machine. Consequently, building permits are usually awarded without any structural engineering inspection.” Artur Deger and his engineers spent a lot of time and money on developing a design tool that takes account of wind loads in different regions of the world. They have created a so-called design tool that planners and operators of solar plants can use to safeguard against storm damage—this means DEGERenergie is offering a standard of safety that is currently not even demanded by legislators or insurance companies. Tracking systems from DEGERenergie increase the energy yield of PV systems by up to 45%. A solar plant planer only has to enter three values: country, height above sea level, and the official wind load factor. The software reveals which DEGERtraker can be used in this region, and with how many solar modules for it to be appropriate and safe for installation. A safety reserve ensures that, as a rule, even peak gusts will not affect a plant installed according to these specifications. “The wind load strain on systems differs greatly depending on the region,” explains Deger. “This fact is taken into account by our design tool. This makes DEGERenergie the first manufacturer to offer its customers genuine safety, and to ensure that its products remain durably operational and do not cause any damage.” DEGERenergie www.degerenergie.de/en
Solar power plant surpasses 100,000kWh of renewable energy
North Carolina’s largest rooftop solar power plant has generated 100,000kWh (kilowatt hours) of renewable, carbonfree electric power. In March of last year, Hamlin Energy Solutions installed the state’s largest building-integrated photovoltaic (BIPV) laminate rooftop solar power plant at its sheet metal fabrication plant in Benson, NC and, in less than
nacleanenergy.com
3/11/09 1:38 PM