Solar energy is an excellent and renewable source of energy for your home, business, or community. It can provide light and heat, as well as electricity to power your devices.
Developing a solar project requires a lot of planning and analysis. It also involves managing interconnection with the electric grid.
Solar Panels
Solar panels capture clean, renewable energy from the sun and convert it into electricity. They are made up of individual cells that have layers of special semiconductor materials that are arranged in positive and negative layers (similar to the setup of a battery).
The solar energy from the sun strikes the layers of silicon with photons that initiate an electric current. This current is then harnessed and carried to an inverter where it can be used for electrical loads.
These solar modules are primarily made from crystalline silicon, which is a naturally occurring element. They are dark in appearance and smooth to the touch, which gives them a great aesthetic appeal.
They are commonly used in residential and commercial buildings to provide power for appliances and lighting. They have high efficiency and are also durable, so they can withstand the harshest conditions.
Solar Power Systems
Solar power systems harness the energy of the sun to produce electricity. These systems can be connected to the public utility grid (called grid-tied), or used independently as stand-alone energy generators.
Photovoltaic (PV) systems, also known as solar panels, use silicon cells to capture and convert sunlight into electrical current. The energy is then stored in batteries or thermal storage.
Concentrated solar power (CSP) is another method for harnessing the sun’s power. CSP plants consist of hundreds to thousands of flat, sun-tracking mirrors that concentrate the sun’s rays on a central tower.
These towers are designed to withstand harsh weather conditions such as hail and sandstorms. In addition, they are capable of storing heat in tanks of molten salt to power their turbines during cloudy weather and at night.
When deciding on which type of solar system to install, it’s important to consider your specific energy needs and budget. This will help you determine whether a grid-tied or off-grid system is right for your home or business.
Solar Thermal Power Plants
Solar thermal power plants convert sunlight to heat, which is then used to produce steam that runs a turbine and generator. These systems can also have a component that stores thermal energy, which can be used during cloudy weather or at night to produce electricity.
There are a few different types of solar thermal power plants:
Parabolic troughs (also known as ‘central tower’ power plants or ‘heliostat’ power plants), use thousands of tracking mirrors to focus concentrated sunlight onto a receiver which sits on top of the tower. This concentrates the sunlight into a very hot fluid (up to 1500 times as intense as incident sunlight), which is then heated in a heat exchanger, and pumped into a steam generator to generate electricity.
These systems are able to operate during poor weather conditions because the mirrors capture and focus the sun’s rays throughout the day, unlike solar PV power systems which work best when there is lots of sunlight. In addition, the thermal energy storage allows these solar plants to be used for off-peak generation when the sun isn’t shining and to help make the system more reliable.
Salt City Solar
Salt City Solar is a small scale residential solar project that provides lower pricing than traditional rooftop solar systems. It also enables a handful of single-family residents in Utah’s capital city to access cheaper solar power.
This solar project is a partnership between Gardner Energy and the city of Salt Lake City. It will provide up to 50 homeowners with discounted bulk-purchase pricing, enabling them to save on the cost of a solar system.
Salt City Solar is also a part of an 80 Megawatt solar project that will supply electricity for the City’s government buildings and operations. The project was a result of several years of collaboration between six large electricity customers and Rocky Mountain Power to aggregate demand for solar.