Taking Coal Hybrid

If we can't kill coal-burning power plants outright, maybe we can hybridize them out of existence.

Carl Franzen at TPM:

A coal-fired electrical plant in Tucson, Ariz., is going green — or at least “greener” — partnering with a French, state-owned nuclear company to install a solar add-on that will generate enough clean electricity to power 600 homes using high-pressure, superheated steam warmed by a series of mirrors.

The new solar project is expected to begin construction in Spring 2012 and to be up and running at the current H. Wilson Sundt Generating Station in Tucson by 2013, according to a news release from plant operator Tucson Electric Power and AREVA, the French energy company behind the solar technology.

“Solar booster projects like this are gaining momentum in the United States and around the world as a way to leverage existing power infrastructure to provide needed energy with no new emissions,” said Bill Gallo, CEO of AREVA Solar, in the joint news release on Tuesday.

Indeed, in March 2011, Florida Power & Light announced the construction of the “first hybrid solar power plant in the world,” as Forbes noted.

But the new AREVA project is notable for its use of a proprietary technology the company calls Compact Linear Fresnel Reflector (CLFR) technology. That technology is a variant of a broader type of innovative solar energy generation called concentrated solar power (CSP) or “solar thermal,” which uses fields of angled, sun-tracking mirrors to focus light on a turbine consisting of liquid-filled tubes, turning the liquid into steam, which is then used to generate electricity.

Meanwhile, solar power marks a high-tech achievement for American industry:

The highest efficiency for a solar panel has been achieved by Alta Devices, the California-based solar company proudly announced (Feb. 6).

The efficiency rating of 23.5 percent, meaning that the panels are able to convert 23.5 percent of energy captured from the sun into electrical output, was verified by the National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL).

“This is the highest solar panel efficiency yet achieved and demonstrates Alta’s progress toward its objective of developing solar photovoltaic (PV) solutions that are competitive, without subsidies, with fossil fuels,” the company wrote in a press release.

Yeah, there's no future in renewable energy.