Q. I notice you use letters MWt (t) and MWe (e) when describing a solar project.  What does that indicate?

A. “T” represents a thermal power station, “E” represents electricity.  Power plants such as Coal, Nuclear, Gas, Biomass, Waste Heat, Geothermal and Concentrating Solar are all forms of thermal power stations.  In thermal power stations, mechanical power is produced by a heat engine that transforms thermal energy, into rotational energy.

 

Q. How big is the Holaniku Energy Laboratory at Keahole Point?

A. Holaniku was built as a research, development and demonstration site.  The solar field produces 2 Megawatts of thermal energy.  It has a 500kW electric Power Purchase Agreement (PPA) with Hawaii Electric Light Company (HELCO).  Excess thermal energy is stored in the 2 hour tanks on site for longer kilowatt hour generation.  Some of the energy is diverted into a demonstration thermal energy desalination unit which takes sea water from the ocean nearby and creates drinkable potable water and the rest of the thermal energy is used in our other proprietary experiments.

 

Q. What kind of generators are onsite at Holaniku?

A. We operate an experimental 300kWe Organic Rankine Cycle (ORC) engine, a 100kWe GE ORC engine and 100kWe Electratherm ORC Green Machines.

 

Q. What’s the benefit of T over E?

A. Simply put, STORAGE.  Thermal energy is very easy and cheap to store.  MCSP mirrors are cheaper than PV modules and tanks are cheaper than MCSP mirrors.  Thus economically, it makes more sense to maximize the storage.

 

Q.  Can you illustrate the benefits of T over E?

A.  Too many people focus on the size of a system but they should really focus on the annual hours of generation.  Let’s use a very basic comparison of a 10MWe PV system.  In a location with 5 hours average sunlight.  That system would generate 18 MWH per year.  A comparable MicroCSP system would be sized at 7.5MWe with 2 hours of storage which would produce 19MWH per year.  Smaller project means cheaper system.  More hours generated means more energy sales.

 

Q.  What’s the relationship between Sopogy and Keahole Solar Power?

A.  We broke off from Sopogy in 2007.  Today, Sopogy is one of the vendors we use in our solar fields and we collaborate on R&D together.  In the case of Holaniku, Sopogy sold us the solar panels we installed in our field.

 

Q. What other kinds of Research and Development efforts occur at Holaniku?

A. Sopogy and KSP Innovation a division of Keahole Solar Power collaborate on a number of different efforts.  Some are confidential but others we’re proud to discuss.  For example in  2009 we implemented the high temperature concept operating at over 500 degrees F.  Most recently, we tested the Sopogy SopoHelios(TM) panel at Holaniku as it was undergoing its field testing phase.  In this we conducted accelerated tracking, salt exposure,  thermal energy efficiency tests and operated the new collector at 620 degrees F.  We are always testing new reflectors and components.  We are currently demonstrating a desalination application where we take sea water, pass it thru a distillation device and create portable drinking water.  We have also done extensive hydrogen generation testing and we helped commercialize the solar air conditioning application using Sopogy’s technologies and partnerships.

 

Q. Who owns Holaniku?

A. Keahole Solar Power owns and operates Holaniku.

 

Q.  What is Sopogy’s relationship at Holaniku?
A. Sopogy is the solar technology vendor.

 

Q. I have large plots of land and would like a MicroCSP field, what’s the next step?

A. Email us: http://keaholesolarpower.com/contact/, thanks!

 

Q. Who owns Keahole Solar Power?

A.  We are primarily owned by Private Equity, Venture Capital and individual investors and our employees.

 

Q. What’s the big difference between PV and Solar Thermal Power?

A.  PV systems are intermittent meaning the energy produced is fluctuating  through out the day.  When sizing a PV system, the “peak” from a 10MWe system will have a peak capacity of 10MW electricity but that will only be achieve for few hours over the course of the entire year.  To compensate for this fluctuation, the utility operates generators operating called spinning-reserve to produce the energy difference between the PV peak and PV actual generation.  That is a cost in the overall cost of energy.   Put another way, the more intermittent the energy (wind and PV as examples), the lower the cost of energy because the utility needs to have back-up.  On the other hand, Solar Thermal systems produce firm and reliable energy so when a system is a 10MWe system, it will generate 10MW of electricity for most of the hours through-0ut the year.  As a result, the utility doesn’t need to operate its spinning-reserve and the costs can be allocated to the project.  This is a significant difference and the key reason that around the world, CSP systems receive more for its power sales.

 

Q. Firm power is key and CSP clearly wins this argument over PV but what is the typical rate per kilowatt hour electric for a CSP system?

A.  Most countries provide a Feed-In-Tariff for CSP systems.  Here’s an example of the rate of energy in different locations around the world:  South Africa $0.35/kWh, Spain $0.41/kWh, Portugal $0.35/kWh, France $0.40/kWh, Thailand $0.35/kWh, India $0.33/kWh,  Italy $0.35/kWh.

 

Q. For total global installations, how do PV and Solar Thermal compare?

A.  There is 3x more solar thermal systems installed around the world than PV.

 

Q. I noticed the solar collectors upside down during the day time.  Why is this?

A. Holaniku was designed as a 2MW thermal plant for research purposes with 2 hour storage but our contract limits us to 500 kilowatts of electricity sale to the utility.  On most days we generate too much heat and must put the collector field into defocus mode, meaning turning the collectors to face the ground.  We will usually refocus when the tanks are emptied.