Solar energy

NREL's Dr Debra Lew discusses the Western Wind and Solar Integration Study (WWSIS)

Posted on 06 Aug 2010
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Beyond Zero Emissions' Matthew Wright and Scott Bilby speak to Dr. Debra Lew, project manager for the National Renewable Energy Laboratory in the United States, about the Western Wind and Solar Integration Study, the partner study to it's Eastern Counterpart.

Beyond Zero interviews Debra Lew of the NREL's Western Wind & Solar Integration Study

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Prof Ian Bates backs Australian research to deliver the breakthrough Technique Solar Module (TSM)

Posted on 25 Jun 2010
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Beyond Zero Emissions' Mathew Wright and Scott Bilby talk to Professor Ian Bates, head of technology at Technique Solar, about the science and implementation of new solar technologies in Australia.

Beyond Zero interviews Professor Ian Bates of Technique Solar

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Storing sunlight in salts

Posted on 23 May 2010
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Originally Published in Engineers Australia Magazine - Power Engineering Section Page 58 Using molten salt to store solar energy could provide electricity 24 hours a day, equivalent to baseload supply, according to Matthew Wright, executive director of Melbourne based company Beyond Zero Emissions.

"There are plants in Spain operating with energy storage right now, providing electricity all night long," Wright said.  Molten salt storage uses common salts, such as potassium nitrate, which are readily available and non-toxic.  Using the sun's energy, these salts are heated to high temperatures and stored in insulated storage tanks.   When electricity is needed, the heat in the molten salt is used to create steam to drive a turbine.

According to the company, this sort of electricity is dispatchable, meaning it can be sent out on demand at any time of day, so it can replace the baseload electricity generated from burning fossil fuels.

"Solar thermal power with storage is proven technology, which will reliably provide the backbone of modern renewable electricity grids," Wright said.

Beyond Zero talks to Dr Fred Morse of Abengoa Solar and CSP division SEIA

Posted on 17 May 2010
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Dr Fred Morse is a veteran of the solar industry.  He started out in solar assessing the viability of the resource for Nixon, helped save the industry when a report by the NRC at the time was trying to close down the US Department of Energy Solar programs and he now is pushing forward with Abengoa's Solana plant and the industry in general as head of the CSP division Solar Energy Industries Association.  Dr Morse speaks to Matthew

Beyond Zero talks to Dr Fred Morse head of the CSP division Solar Energy Industries Association

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Solar Flagship shortlist comes up short

Posted on 17 May 2010
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FOSSIL fuel pirates and other opportunists have commandeered Energy Minister Martin Ferguson's Solar Flagship program.

The short-listed bidders for a slice of the $1.5 billion booty, courtesy of the Federal Government, was buried in a press release issued on Budget night.

It's not that the Solar Flagship concept is wrong. It's just that the companies that have been selected for the shortlist are second-tier, or worse, in terms of global solar energy.

The shortlist demonstrates an audacious tilt by gas, oil, coal and wind specialists, who should stick to their knitting and leave the large-scale solar sector to the large-scale solar sector.

Beyond Zero talks to Chris Huntington of Polymer based Solar Mirror supplier Sky Fuel

Posted on 02 May 2010
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Beyond Zero talks to Chris Huntington, Senior Vice President Business Development at SkyFuel, developers of innovative solar thermal technology for large scale transition from coal and fossil fuels to a solar future.  Skyfuel uses reflectech polymer films developed by the National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL)

Beyond Zero taks to Christopher Huntington of Skyfuel

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Beyond Zero talks to Dr Thomas Mancini CSP Program Manager Sandia Laboratories

Posted on 30 Apr 2010
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Beyond Zero's Matthew Wright and Scott Biliby talk to Dr Thomas Mancini, CSP Program Manager, Sandia National Laboratories.  Tom has a long history in the solar programs having worked at Sandia  since the 1980s Tom talks about Solar Thermal Power Towers, Molten Salt Storage, the US DOE Solar programs and the hopeful serious commercialisation of Solar Thermal power in the USA this year.

Beyond Zero talks to Dr Thomas Mancini CSP Program Manager Sandia Laboratories

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Rebecca Dunn from Australian National University talks about Solar Thermal

Posted on 02 Apr 2010
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Rebecca Dunn a Researcher and PhD Candidate at Australia's leading Solar Thermal research institution the Australian National University talks about her experience in Solar, about the ANU's research program and about what is happening around the world.   This is Beyond Zero's Special Easter programming

Rebecca Dunn from ANU talks about Solar Thermal

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Beyond zero talks to Dr Matteo Chiesa of Masdar Institute in Masdar City near Abu Dhabi

Posted on 18 Feb 2010
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Matteo ChiesaMasdar is noted for their Masdar city project to create a high performance zero emissions city.  In this interview we talk about one of their main projects and that is testing and scaling solar beam down towers for comercial deployment in the United Arab Emirates.  The towers are from the work of Tokyo Institute of Technology and are pre commercial at this stage but hold a lot of pr

Beyond Zero talks to Dr Matteo Chiesa of the Masdar Institute

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Government neglect turns lights out for solar power industry

Posted on 08 Feb 2010
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By Kerrie Sinclair

AUSTRALIA has the scorching sun, the scientific skill and private investors poised to swing behind a solar industry boom that could deliver a climate-safe power sector and billions in export earnings.

But missing from that equation is the political will, industry experts say.

Scientists say the world needs to cut greenhouse gas emissions from electricity and transport virtually to zero in 40 years if it wants a decent chance of keeping damage from climate change manageable.

Australia had a major solution in sight long ago. The sun. Australian researchers, including a world-leading team in Queensland, created a golden age in the '60s and '70s for Australian solar innovation.

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