Solarlite

Technology

Solar thermal facilities offer one of the most sustainable forms of energy recovery in the environment, resources and availability. The technology has the advantage of direct solar radiation increases, so does the efficiency of the facilities. The facilities are also characterized by a high degree of flexibility. They can be combined with other fossil and renewable energy sources and are thus base-load capable. Another more is the option of producing electricity and process heat at the same time or independently of one another. In addition, the residual heat can be used for further industrial applications for example desalination and cooling.

Solarlite has tested the DSG concept successfully in three pilot projects in Thailand and Germany. The DSG concept is environment friendly and enables significant reductions in total cost of ownership and cost. With DSG a higher operating temperature will be achievable.

The Solarlite SL 4600 parabolic trough is a highly efficient product that can generate up to 400 ° C. Each panel has an aperture width of 4.6 m and is made of composite materials combined with an efficient thinglass mirror. This mirror is up to 95% of the sun’s radiation on the absorptive stadium at the ideal focus of the parabolic mirror .

Bankruptcy

In 2012, Solarlite was forced to declare insolvency. According to BonVenture, the reason for this “… was the unexpected market shift towards photovoltaics because of the Chinese government’s subsidies policy and the non-fulfillment of contractual obligations and payments by two customers.” ^[1] The company then reincorporated on January 1, 2013 as Solarlite CSP Technology GmbH with the same CEO, Joachim Krüger. ^[2]

Projects

• “TSE 1” Kanchanaburi Province, Thailand – Completed in 2011, this was the first of what was originally planned to be 15 9MWe concentrated solar power plants. Thailand’s Solar Program required that the plants be completed by 2015. However, due to complications, including solarlite filing for bankruptcy in 2012, no other plants were built. ^[3]The 5 MWe solar thermal power plant located in Kanchanaburi / Thailand is unique in three different ways: 1). First parabolic trough commercial power plant based on direct steam generation; 2.) Solarlite Trough SL4600 a new generation parabolic trough made of composite material combined with an efficient thin-glass mirror that reflects more than 95% of the sun radiation; 3.) The construction method allows island solutions and smaller solar thermal parabolic trough plants starting from 500 kWe.
• DUKE, Spain
• CompoSol
• Solarlite, Duckwitz / DLR
• TRESERT, Thailand
• Woltow, Germany ^[4]

Direct steam generation

Solarlite has tested the DSG concept successfully in three pilot projects in Thailand and Germany. Solarlite’s adaptation of DSG concept is based on the following advantages:

• DSG concept is environment friendly and it avoids the use of flammable & environmental hazard materials
• The DSG allows significant reductions in total cost of ownership and cost.
• With DSG a higher operating temperature will be achievable.
• The DSG concepts has already been accepted at financial institutions, the first power plant has been financed.

Direct steam generation 2.0

Flow path concept, development and testing – In a joint research project known as “Duke” that was supported by the German Federal Ministry for the Environment, Nature Conservation and Nuclear Safety, Solarlite CSP Technology GmbH and the German Aerospace Center tested a new version of direct steam generation. Project aim

• Investigation of the flow path under real conditions
• Demonstration of solar direct steam generation at 500 ° C
• Detailed system analysis for debitable costing under consideration of the Solarlite collector

SL 4600+

The Solarlite 4600 parabolic trough is a highly efficient product that can generate up to 400 ° C. Each panel has an aperture width of 4.6 and is made of composite materials combined with an efficient thinglass mirror. This mirror reflects up to 95% of the sun’s radiation on the receiver’s homeowner at the ideal focus of the parabolic mirror. Water passing through the receiver is heated up by the compressed reflected sun radiation and is converted into a controlled process. A turbine generator produces electricity. Residual heat can be used for other applications such as seawater desalination or absorption cooling. The basic element of the Solarlite 4600 collector is the Solarlite composite panel which has a dimension of 2.3 m width and 1 m length. These panels are combined together to form a segment with a dimension 4.6 m aperture width and 12 m length. It is possible to connect 10 of these segments to form one collector thus reaching up to 120 m. These collectors are combined together to form rows (collectors aligned in one axis in the North-South direction) and loops (collectors connected in series where the cold fluid enters into one end and the hot fluids leaves in the other end). The collector is moving to a water drivesystem. The modular concept of Solarlite allows for the optimal length of the collector based on the specific locations’ wind data. The combination of the light weight composite and the slender steel structure allows a reduced specific weight compared to the competitors.

Awards and nominations

• Die Finalisten of the Deutsche Innovationspreises. ^[5]
• CSP Today Award: Solarlite GmbH was a Newcomer of the Year Finalist in 2010. ^[6]
• National Energy Globe Award Thailand 2012 ^[7]
• Step Award 2011 in den Kategorien Produkt und Technologie und Nachhaltigkeit ^[8]

References

• Parabolrinnen für Prozeswärme-Projekte und Entwicklungen. ^[9]
• Parabolic trough solar collector and their applications ^[10]
• The secret of success ^[11]
• Zero Campus Design Case Study, University of Minnesota ^[12]
• 16. Kölner Sonnenkolloquium ^[13]
• Klimaretter ^[14]

Footnotes