[Gasification] More on ORCs -- food for thoughts

[Peter Singfield]

>heat sources down to around 70 C / 160 F to power small generating plants,

That is to low a temperature -- as I qualified -- 350 F and greater is
required.

Easy to build a trough style solar concentrator for that temp range
though!! (well -- here close to the equator)

As for the cheap solar cells -- same here -- hope I live that long!!

Peter

At 11:11 AM 2/3/2007 +0800, Robert Taylor wrote:
>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
>
>
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