Current Event: Arizona Utility Tries Storing Solar Energy for Use in the Dark

Current Event: Arizona Utility Tries Storing Solar Energy for Use in the Dark

 

Images of trough shaped mirrors of Solana

 

This article mainly focuses on a new solar energy project in Arizona named Solana. Solana is the energy taken in a three-square mile patch of desert, containing numerous rows of parabolic mirrors. The mirrors focused on the sun’s energy on these black painted pipes, which contained molten salt. Within these huge tanks of molten salt, heat was still present, even after the sun had set. This heat could be taken to continue making steam and electricity. This project was created by the Arizona Public Service due to the rise in demand of electricity, which they had somewhat resolved by using the previous afternoon’s sunshine. Such a feat would seem impossible for solar panels to achieve, but it was possible when the other factors came to play out. Another reason why Solana was created was because utility companies were trying to make use of the advancements in technology after considering that the extent of solar panels was limited. With Solana, electricity from the sun is still in our access without the sun actually shining outside. This issue sparked interest among some regulators, such as the Public Utilities Commission in California. They were provoked into approving a rule that would require these types of storages by 2024. This remarkable inspiration for storage had come with the success of the solar panels. Despite its major positive attributes, some conflicts did occur in the usage of the solar power as Arizona Public Services, like other utilities, are well-rehearsed with. During the early morning and evening time, the solar panels were unable to detect the sun as it was too low. Even the ones that tracked the sun faced this problem. This led to the solar panel’s absorption and production being less than half the maximum amount possible. Though Solana may experience some issues, this $2 billion project is becoming a popular notion as another project called the Ivanpah Project was launched in California using garage sized solar panels to focus on black colored tanks. Overall, Solana is an effective system to gather heat, yet don’t assume thermal storage is limited to storing heat. In Rockefeller Center, ice systems were also a possible method. Though Solana is an important renewable system, it wasn’t the first renewable energy plant with storage, battery storage was. In comparison, Solana is less expensive and lasts longer than battery storage, which stored electricity rather than heat. So although Solana may not be the first storage system, it is effective and cheaper to an extent, to produce, and may be the leading transition point in renewable energy.

As humans it has become second nature to us be encircled in the life of electronics, but what do all these electronics require? We constantly use electricity throughout our day, whether it in the daytime or in the night for late night essays. Solana takes a whole new perspective regarding the issue of renewable energy. It allows heat energy gained from the sun to be stored. This heat energy is converted to the electricity we use, well at least for people in Arizona. Aside from lowering the carbon footprint, we humans leave on Earth, having a renewable energy such as the one provided by Solana is beneficial to our society because it is the gateway to the possibilities of more affordable means of energy during the nighttime as well. It takes solar power up a level higher.

This article proved to be insightful in terms of the knowledge of the project Solana. I learned new interesting facts about types of renewable storages and that storage of renewable energy is even possible. I felt the strength of the article was that it seemed to have a well researched background of Solana and included quotes from people backing up some of its points. The issues I had with the article were very slight. The article included words such as parabolic mirrors and photovoltaic, which many readers may not actually know. Simply defining photovoltaic in the margin and describing parabolic mirrors may be helpful to readers. Although, I must admit, most readers could probably take the hint, from reading the description under the photo, that parabolic mirrors are trough-shaped mirrors. Another weakness in the article that I felt existed was how the author kept jumping around with information regarding Solana. Some information was strongly linked, but in some parts I felt the author was just presenting us with just about any fact about Solana.

Citation:

Walden, Matthew L. "Arizona Utility Tries Storing Solar Energy for Use in the Dark." New York Times Science. N.p., 17 Oct. 2013. Web. <http://www.nytimes.com/2013/10/18/business/energy-environment/arizona-utility-tries-storing-solar-energy-for-use-in-the-dark.html?ref=science&_r=0>.

 

Link:

http://www.nytimes.com/2013/10/18/business/energy-environment/arizona-utility-tries-storing-solar-energy-for-use-in-the-dark.html?ref=science&_r=0