Innovation

Concentrating solar power

ACCIONA Solar Power embraces innovation. While we recognized the potential of concentrating solar power (CSP) and built the third-largest plant of its kind in the world to prove its viability on a commercial scale, we didn’t stop there. New strategies are continuously being developed to better operate the 200,000 curved mirrors to harness enough energy for 14,000 homes. Efficient operation of Nevada Solar One has made Nevada the number one state in solar energy generation per capita.

Innovation continues to reduce the cost of CSP. The concentrating solar technology used at Nevada Solar One, a curved reflective surface called a parabolic trough, represents a major renewable energy success story of the past three decades and has the potential during peak hours to compete directly with conventional fossil-fuel-powered technologies

This landmark achievement marked a significant moment not only in the solar industry, but also in ACCIONA Solar Power’s Research and Development Program. Nevada Solar One introduced revolutionary technological innovations for the CSP industry that were developed by ACCIONA Solar Power over several years of a sustained commitment to research and development. These innovations include significant improvement of the power plant conceptual design as well as the introduction of a large percentage of recycled materials in the solar field.

ACCIONA Solar Power’s commitment to research and development is stronger than ever with emphasis being placed on thermal energy storage (TES) technology. Through TES, ACCIONA Solar Power will develop concentrating solar plants that continue to produce electricity for several hours after the sun has set. TES also allows a CSP plant to become a dispatchable plant to utilities by storing the thermal energy collected by the solar collectors during the morning hours when demand is low. It then generates the electricity from the stored energy in the afternoon when demand is high.

In addition to TES technology, ACCIONA Solar Power is committed to working with component manufacturers to increase the performance of all the elements of our CSP plants. Further, ACCIONA Solar Power is currently developing a testing facility where component performance testing and data logging will take place.

Watch our video about Nevada Solar One – The Future in Reflection