"If properly harnessed, there's enough sunlight that falls on the earth in just one hour
to meet the world's energy demands for a whole year."
THE PROJECT
Solar Updraft Tower Functional Principle
Solar
Updraft Towers work on a simple well-known principle: Hot air rises. To
make use of this simple physical fact for power generation, air is
heated by the sun under a large translucent roof (greenhouse effect).
The heated air is then sucked in by a central vertical cylindrical tube
(chimney effect). The updraft wind, thus created, drives
turbines/generators and so generates electricity. The principle has been
proven by building and successfully operating a prototype in Spain for
seven years.
Electricity
from Solar Updraft Towers is the most cost-effective when compared with
other solar power plants. Moreover, Solar Updraft Towers are
characterized by a number of additional advantages:
- Due to the soil under the collector working as a natural heat storage system, Solar Updraft Towers can operate 24/7 on pure solar energy.
- No cooling water is needed as for many other solar thermal power plants.
- Solar updraft towers are particularly reliable. Turbines and generators -subject to a steady flow of air -are the plant's only moving parts.
THE TECHNOLOGY
Schlaich Bergermann Solar GmbHStuttgart, Germany
- This pre-feasibility study was commissioned by Hyperion Energy, Subiaco, Western Australia. The study assesses the viability of selected sites for solar updraft towers in WA concerning topography, meteorology, soil conditions and earthquake loads.
- The feasibility study team from Schlaich Bergermann Solar would like to thank Hyperion Energy for their confidence and the excellent cooperation.
- We hope that this joint effort will contribute to Australia keeping its position as a provider of energy for the world in the future, when the century of carbon fuels will be history, then by tapping the inexhaustible energy of the sun.
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