Thermodynamic solar power is being considered for multiple sites around the world following a successful trial of the technology outside Seville in Spain.
SCADA HELPS PROVE VIABILITY OF
THERMODYNAMIC SOLAR POWER
Thermodynamic solar power is being considered for multiple sites around the world following a successful trial of the technology
outside Seville in Spain. The plant reliably produces 400MWh of clean energy per day regardless of weather conditions, thanks in
part to a Movicon 11 SCADA control system.
olar panels have been
a dependable energy
source for decades. But
to date they have tended
to be confined to smaller
applications in Europe, typically supplying
only their local area and usually backed up
by another power source in case the sun
does not shine. Engineers and scientists
have spent many years trying to develop
solar technology to overcome this scaling
restriction so that grid-scale quantities
of power can be generated for wide
distribution to a significant population of
domestic and commercial users.
S
Now they are in the final stages
of perfecting a reconfiguration of
existing solar technology, known as
thermodynamic solar power, that has the
potential for large scale energy production
through the day and also long after the
sun has gone down. An energy plant
in Seville, Spain has, with the help of a
Movicon 11 control system, proved that
this technology is practical and reliable. sun on its daily journey across the sky or
for fine adjustment of the energy directed
towards the salt tower.
In the semi-arid Seville region of
southern Spain, the new solar facility is
now supplying power to 25,000 homes,
businesses, schools and other energy
users. The thermodynamic technology
works like this: a massive array of over
2600 large mirrors re¬direct the sun’s rays
toward a 150m (450ft) tall tower which is
filled with salt. Thermodynamic solar power has several
advantages over other solar solutions, the
most important being that this technology
can continue to generate electricity for up
to seven hours after sunset. This is possible
because of the incredible heat build-
up in the salt mixture. Significantly the
thermodynamic system works in cloudy
weather, so is able to produce power
throughout the year in many locations
around the world.
The energy provided by all this sunlight
melts the salt (a mixture of 60% potassium
and 40% sodium nitrate) and superheats
it to over 500°C. This is used to produce
steam, which in turn drives a turbine that
is connected to a generator producing
400MWh of electricity for distribution to
homes and businesses. The mirrors can
move individually or en-masse to track the
A key to the efficient operation of the
Seville thermodynamic power plant
is being able to closely regulate the
temperature in the tower tank and in the
turbine. The Seville managers also wanted
a control system that had simple to follow
graphic read-outs. For these vital