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This concept was developed by CSEM (Swiss Center for Electronics and Microtechnology),  a privately held research and development company. These “Solar Islands” should make it possible to transform large amounts of solar energy into electricity and hydrogen at a reasonable cost. The rotating solar islands could be set up in remote areas of the world with high solar irradiation. Floating in the ocean or being installed in the dessert, the sunrays reflected by the membrane’s surface would heat the water under high pressure inside the pipes. By absorbing the radiant energy from the sun, the water (or any other fluid, preferably with a lower boiling point) evaporates. The steam is first stored in a high-pressure steam tank before it is transported to the shore -  through underwater pipelines - where a steam turbine generates electricity. The electricity could also be used to run desalination plants or to produce hydrogen by splitting water into H2 and O2.

At the moment, a prototype on-shore version is under construction in the dessert of the United Arab Emirates. The project is funded by $5 million by the emirate Ras al-Khaimah, just an hour north of Dubai. Unlike neighboring emirates, RAK has never been a major oil producer. Therefore it has had traditionally a more diverse economy than the rest of the UAE. Now the emirate’s government realizes the opportunities of being a sunny desert country.

Once the technology is advanced enough and proved to be reliable, discs with a diameter of 5 kilometers (3.1 miles) and a height of 20 meters could be deployed in the ocean in large numbers.

However, some question the feasibility of the solar islands for numerous reasons:

First, offshore islands would face extreme weather situations. Tropical storms, high waves, strong winds and currents could damage the devices.

Second, it would be a challenge to keep the mirrors clean with the high exposure to salt water spray and birds, etc.. Maybe this is one of the reasons why they seem to prefer using thermosolar panels instead of photovoltaic panels which convert sunlight directly into electricity.

Third, sending the steam to the shore through a pipeline reduces efficiency. Instead of pumping steam through underwater pipes, it’d probably be easier to transport electricity generated on the island or hydrogen.

It looks like on-shore versions are much more feasible because in the desert there’s no humidity, no clouds, no waves and no salt water spray. Many desert regions have virtually no economic value. Thus, there’s an abundance of cheap space perfectly suitable for the solar power plants.

Follow this link to see photos of the prototype: http://www.solar-islands.com/webcam.php

This entry was posted on Thursday, March 26th, 2009 at 2:23 PM and is filed under Uncategorized. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.