The concentrated solar power technologies employed by the utility’s El Cajon, California, operations center include the PowerDish and Concentrator Photovoltaic (CPV) Technology.
The PowerDish, built by Infinia of Kennewick, Washington, is a mirrored disc 15ft in diameter that concentrates and focuses the sun’s energy onto a compact Stirling engine that converts that energy into electricity. Each PowerDish produces up to 3,000W of electricity.
The CPV technology, built by SolFocus of Mountain View, California, uses a reflective optical system to concentrate sunlight 650 times onto very high-efficiency photovoltaic cells up to twice as efficient as traditional silicon PV cells. The rectangular system is 24ft wide, 18ft tall and is capable of generating 8,400W of electricity.
The total cost for both projects is $80,000 and will be funded by SDG&E’s research and development group.
James Avery, senior vice president of power supply at SDG&E, said: “The concentrated solar technology we are hosting on our property is more than a bright idea conceived in the lab, it represents the potential leading edge of new and practical forms of renewable power.
“Hosting these demonstration projects on our property provides us the opportunity to determine the real-world applications of these systems and their potential on a utility scale.”
The demonstrations are expected to continue for 12 to 18 months, after which SDG&E will share the results with the manufacturers.
