[Gasification] More on ORCs -- food for thoughts

[Robert Taylor]

For some time (years!) I've been following the excruciatingly slow progress 
of the folk at www.matteranenergy.com, who have patented a way to eliminate 
the feedpump in an ORC system, which they claim makes it economic to use 
heat sources down to around 70 C / 160 F to power small generating plants, 
e.g. 1 kW. I don't have the expertise to judge whether their claims are well 
based, or the knowledge to compare their approach with systems other people 
may have developed (Ormat) or be developing. But the prospect of being able 
to provide a household's hot water, electricity, and, where needed, 
refrigeration, from a single array of solar water heating panels seems 
pretty exciting to me (also drinking water, see www.safewatersystems.com).

However, on the photovoltaic side, there are also people developing ways to, 
as they claim, bring down the price of generation massively: e.g. 
www.nanosolar.com (printed solar cells) and www.greenandgoldenergy.com.au 
(using optical concentrators to reduce the number of silicon-based solar 
cells needed).

I hope I'm still around to see it all happen.

Robert Taylor