Ausra, United Technologies, Yeda R&D Among Leaders in Thermal Energy Storage Patent Landscape for Grid-Scale Concentrating Solar Thermal (CST)

IP Checkups announces the release of its Sector Patent Landscape report entitled, Grid-Scale Concentrated Solar Thermal: Thermal Energy Storage Technologies. The report highlights key players, patents and filing trends in the emerging thermal energy storage patent landscape.

Berkeley, CA (PRWEB) February 26, 2009 -- IP Checkups' Sector Patent Landscape report, Grid-Scale Concentrated Solar Thermal: Thermal Energy Storage Technologies identifies key patent holders for important CST thermal energy storage solutions including compressed steam, phase-change materials and molten salt. The report concludes that in order to protect new grid-scale thermal energy storage technologies, companies must carefully navigate a handful of patents with broad claims as well as a significant body of non-patent literature.

According to the report, United Technologies (UTX), together with subsidiaries Hamilton-Sundstrand and Pratt & Whitney Rocketdyne, have obtained the broadest patent protection for molten salt thermal energy storage. SolarReserve is poised to take advantage of UTX's portfolio of patents through an exclusive licensing deal. In addition, a slew of up and coming companies and R&D labs including, Abengoa, Ausra, Bell Independent Power, Larkden Pty. Ltd., MeV Technology, SkyFuel, Solar Millennium, and Yeda Research & Development have aggressively filed patents on a variety of thermal storage technologies that will shape the patent landscape going forward.

Thermal energy storage is a key component to the long-term acceptance and success of grid-scale Concentrating Solar Power technologies (parabolic trough, linear fresnel, power tower, and dish-engine) by providing a means to remove the intermittent nature of the sun's energy and increase plant utilization. It is crucial for companies and investors to understand what technologies the key players in this space are protecting.

This 100 page in-depth Sector Patent Landscape Analysis identifies the fundamental patents, key players and emerging trends relating to patent coverage of various thermal energy storage technologies for CST applications. In all, 221 patent documents from the US, EP, JP and WO patent offices were uncovered that comprise the patent landscape.

The report breaks down the documents by filing date, geography, inventor, assignee and technology to identify key players, trends and fundamental patents in the field. In addition the report analyzes the level of patent protection including claims assessments, technology breadth and licensing agreements.

To learn more or purchase the report, visit www.ipcheckups.com/CST.

IP Checkups is a boutique Patent Analytics firm based in the Bay Area. The firm provides clients with customized competitive patent landscape analysis, technology sector overviews, and company patent portfolio profiles. IP Checkups' patent analysts combine traditional qualitative analysis with sophisticated software tools to dig deep into competitors' patent portfolios to understand how companies are positioned relative to each other in particular technology areas. Services include custom and off-the-shelf patent landscape overviews, company portfolio evaluations, patent monitoring and alerting services among others.

For more information contact Matthew Rappaport at (510) 981-1030 or visit www.ipcheckups.com.

Storing Solar Power in Salt

By MATTHEW L. WALD

SolarReserve

What if it were possible to have solar power even when the clouds close in, or in the middle of the night? What if it were so reliable, it could fill the gap when the wind dies down and turbines stop spinning?

It's all possible, said Terry Murphy, president of SolarReserve. The company's design uses the sun's heat to boil water and spin a turbine — not unlike other "solar thermal" concepts that are now common. But where a typical system uses mirrors to concentrate sunlight and heat water; SolarReserve uses them to heat a salt, which melts into a liquid about twice as dense as water — and here's the catch: stored in thermal silo, the melted salt is able to maintain vast amounts of heat, which can be tapped later for use in power production.

The company received a second round of financing — $140 million — just last fall, and hopes to break ground next year.

SolarReserve's heat concentrators are not terribly different from other similar systems. It includes a tower that resembles a tall smokestack at a coal plant. At the top is a black cylinder that absorbs heat, and surrounding that are 17,000 mirrors, each six meters by seven meters, and each mounted on a stanchion that looks like a short lamp-post, and controlled by a computer that turns it to reflect sunlight unto the cylinder, regardless of season of the year or time of day.

The big difference is in the two storage tanks at the base of the tower. They can hold salt with enough heat to run the generators for hours. A demonstration deployment in the 1980s generated about 10 megawatts – enough to run about ten small shopping centers. The design SolarReserve hopes to break ground on next year would generate up to 300 megawatts.

"People talk about baseload capacity as the holy grail," Mr. Murphy said, referring to plants that can run dependably around the clock, supplying the minimum expected demand. "But the real holy grail is dispatchability,'' he said.

He compared it to pumped hydro, in which water is pumped up hill in the middle of the night, so it can run back down during the day when power is used. In this case, he said, it is "pumped solar."

A German company, Solar Millennium, is currently building a plant in Spain that also stores heat in molten salt. But the United States may be a better market, said Mr. Murphy, because prices paid by utilities vary so much; it might even pay to gather heat in the morning and sell it as electricity in the afternoon, when the prices — and demand — are much higher.

Mr. Murphy, who said he had 40 plants under development, also suggested that as the penetration of wind power increased, there would be more demand for "dispatchable" power from low-carbon sources, like his solar thermal design, when the wind stops blowing.

eSolar to build 1,000MW of solar power plants in India

Published:06-March-2009

By Datamonitor staff writer

Names ACME as a master licensee of its modular, scalable technology and grants exclusive right to represent eSolar in India

eSolar, a producer of modular, scalable solar thermal power plants, has announced an exclusive licensing agreement with the ACME Group to build up to 1,000MW of solar thermal power plants in India over the next 10 years.

eSolar names ACME as a master licensee of its modular, scalable technology and grants the company the exclusive right to represent eSolar in India developing its own utility-scale solar thermal projects and working with other companies that want to build solar thermal power plants in India using eSolar technology.

The agreement combines both companies' resources to enable complete project capabilities, ranging from technology development and component manufacturing to power plant construction and operation. Additionally, ACME will make a $30 million equity investment in eSolar.

As a master licensee, ACME will build, own and operate solar thermal plants in India using eSolar's modular and scalable design and will work with other companies to build solar thermal power plants in India using eSolar technology. ACME has already signed power purchase memoranda of understanding for 250MW. Construction will start later in 2009 on the first 100MW of eSolar power plants.

Bill Gross, CEO of eSolar, said: "eSolar has produced the first solar energy that is competitive with fossil fuels. ACME's $30 million commitment demonstrates their confidence in eSolar's technology. We are committed to working with the very best partners, such as ACME, to scale deployment as quickly as possible around the world."

Solar-Thermal Energy Could Reduce Coal Plant’s Carbon Footprint

FEBRUARY 12, 2009

Using solar-thermal technology at coal-fired power stations could turn out to be the cheapest way to simultaneously expand solar energy use and reduce coal plants' carbon footprint. Or at least that's what the Electric Power Research Institute (EPRI) is hoping to find out with a nine-month study, Technologyreview.comreports.

The nonprofit organization recently launched a $640,000 study to understand the scale of the opportunity and the engineering challenges involved with making the two technologies work together. The study will examine the potential use of solar-thermal technology at two coal-fired power stations in New Mexico and North Carolina.

Last month, five electric utilities in the U.S. and Canada joined EPRI to host studies of the impacts of retrofitting carbon capture technology to existing coal-fired power plants.

The idea is not entirely new: about six new and existing natural-gas power stations are being designed or adapted to incorporate solar-thermal technology.  However, the overall efficiency of retrofitted hybrid solar-gas plants is still limited – when the sun goes down, a gas steam turbine that has been modified to accommodate waste heat plus solar heat will suffer an efficiency penalty from running at partial load.

However, for the hybrid technology to work, power plants will need a combination of strong sun and flat, open ground to host a solar thermal collector field. Moreover, governments need to put a firm price on carbon emissions from coal to justify trading cheap coal for more costly solar-thermal energy.

In January, EPRI noted that energy efficiency programs in the U.S. could realistically reduce the rate of growth for electricity consumption by 22 percent over the next two decades - if key barriers can be addressed.

Solar Water Heating Pays For Itself Five Times Over

ScienceDaily (Mar. 13, 2009) — An analysis of the engineering and economics for a solar water-heating system shows it to have a payback period of just two years, according to researchers in India. They report, in the International Journal of Global Energy Issues, on the success of the 1000-liter system operating at a university hostel.

The current focus in the developed world is on advanced technological approaches to alternative energy sources, such as photovoltaic cells for solar power and harnessing wind and wave with elaborate systems to generate electricity. However, the cost of such systems may be prohibitive for some applications in the developing world. They also often ignore the fact that a mundane process such as heating water might best be carried out using direct heat from the sun rather than including a waste energy-conversion step.

Vivek Khambalkar, Sharashchandra Gadge, and Dhiraj S. Karale at the Dr Panjabrao Deshmukh Agricultural University, in Maharashtra, India, explain how they have evaluated the various costs and benefits involved in solar hot-water production. They have compared solar hot-water production per liter with electrical energy approaches and found that solar heating is 57 percent of the internal rate of return.

"Solar energy is the only renewable energy source that has wide range of uses with commercial viability. Solar energy provide water heating, air heating and electricity through various modes of applications. The use of solar energy for thermal purposes is the most cost-effective way of utilizing the resource. A solar water heating system satisfies the need of warm water," the researchers explain.

Importantly, the payback time for the initial investment in equipment and installation is just two years. This compares very well to a photovoltaic system used for electricity generation if it were only being used to heat water. Photovoltaics have a payback period of several at least a decade and sometimes double that.

The solar hot water system used in the study is installed at the Jijau hostel, part of the Dr Panjabrao Deshmukh Agricultural University campus, in Akola, Maharashtra state, India. The team estimates that the system will effectively pay for itself five times over, given an estimated working life of about twenty years.

---

Journal reference:

1. . Solar water cost and feasibility of solar water heating system. International Journal of Global Energy Issues, 2009, 31, 208-218

Adapted from materials provided by Inderscience Publishers, via EurekAlert!, a service of AAAS.

ACME to Invest $30 Million in eSolar for 5% Stake and Technology License to Develop 500 Megawatts in India

ACME to Invest $30 Million in eSolar for 5% Stake and Technology License to Develop 500 Megawatts in India

BANGALORE, INDIA--March 12, 2009--Researched by Industrial Info Resources (Sugar Land, Texas)--ESolar (Pasadena, California), a developer of modular solar thermal power plants, recently entered into an exclusive licensing agreement with the ACME Group (Gurgaon, Haryana), a developer of innovative energy-efficient solutions, to develop up to 1,000 megawatts (MW) of solar thermal power stations in India over the next decade. ACME will invest $30 million for a 5% ownership stake in eSolar. 

ACME has been named the master licensee of eSolar's modular technology and has been granted exclusive rights to represent eSolar in the Indian market. According to the licensing agreement, ACME will be permitted to use eSolar's modular, scalable technology to develop solar thermal projects in India by itself or in collaboration with partner firms. ACME has already entered into memorandums of understanding to buy 250 MW of solar thermal power. Construction of 100 MW of solar power plants based on eSolar's technology is expected to start later this year. 

The agreement will enable the two firms to combine resources in project capabilities, technology development and component manufacture to develop and operate solar thermal power plants in India. The collaboration, which represents eSolar's first international licensing contract, is part of the firm's strategy to promote global deployment of its technology by entering into licensing agreements with local firms. ESolar is looking to license its technology in Australia, Spain and the Middle East.

The company claims to have developed an innovative technology for developing utility-scale concentrating solar power (CSP) plants ranging in capacity from 46 MW to more than 500 MW. ESolar's solution employs a field of heliostats that reflects solar heat to a thermal receiver mounted on a tower. The concentrated heat energy is used to boil water stored in the thermal receiver and produces steam. Steam is used to rotate a turbine, thereby generating power. The steam is then cooled to produce water and directed back to the thermal receiver, and the cycle continues. A 46-MW CSP unit based on the technology comprises 16 towers on which thermal receivers are mounted, a turbine and generator set and a steam condenser, spread over 160 acres of land area. 

The sun-tracking heliostat is a mass-manufactured component and is the basic building block of the solution. The company has designed heliostats for easy deployment in pre-fabricated "heliostat sticks" that can be installed faster than other CSP solutions with minimal requirement of skilled labor. Thousands of heliostats are systematically spaced in a modular field layout that is optically designed to maximize the amount of solar power harnessed. This eliminates the need for high-precision surveying and individual installation and alignment of mirrors, thereby reducing the overall cost of power generation. The technology allows for multiple units of 46 MW each to be set up for higher power generation requirements. All these factors make eSolar's solution cost-competitive with traditional power plants based on fossil fuels. Coal-based power generation costs about U.S. 6 cents per kilowatt-hour (kWh), whereas the cost of solar thermal energy ranges from U.S. 8 cents per kWh to U.S. 15 cents per kWh.

ESolar was established in 2007 by Asif Ansari and Bill Gross, founders of Idealab Incorporated (Pasadena, California), an incubator founded in 1996. Idealab founded Picasa, which was acquired by Google (NASDAQ:GOOG) (Mountain View, California) in 2004. In April 2008, eSolar raised $130 million from Idealab, Google.org, the philanthropic arm of Google, and Oak Investment Partners (Palo Alto, California). The firm is currently developing a 5-MW plant in Lancaster, California, for commercial demonstration of its technology.

In February 2009, eSolar entered into an agreement with NRG Energy Incorporated (NYSE:NRG) (Princeton, New Jersey), a wholesale power generation firm, to develop solar power plants of up 500 MW in California and in the southwestern U.S. NRG Energy will invest $10 million in eSolar for an ownership stake, development rights to use eSolar's technology for three projects, and a technology license to develop, build and operate up to 11 CSP units in these regions based on eSolar's modular technology. The proposed power plants have an estimated capacity to provide 100% clean solar power to more than 400,000 homes in the region. The first of these plants, expected to come into operation in 2011, is a 245-MW project in Kern County in southern California for which eSolar had entered into a power purchase agreement last year with Edison International (NYSE:EIX) (Rosemead, California), one of the largest power distribution utilities in the state.

ESolar intends to utilize the cash inflow from its deal with ACME to fund its power development projects in the U.S. It plans to focus on developing utility-scale power plants in the U.S. while adopting the technology license route to make inroads in overseas markets. Because of the global economic recession and the credit crunch in the market, several of the firm's peers in Silicon Valley including Ausra (Mountain View) and OptiSolar (Hayward, California) are moving out of power plant construction projects and focusing on less-risky solar equipment sales. However, equipment sales are more susceptible to market fluctuations and face strong competition that drive down prices. On the other hand, despite heavy investments, successful power plant construction projects enable developers to draw a consistent stream of revenues through long-term contracts with utilities. 

Founded in 2003, the ACME Group provides energy-efficient solutions in wireless telecommunications, wastewater treatment and cold-chain storage. ACME Tele Power Limited (Gurgaon), the group's flagship company, pioneered the "Green Shelter" concept, which provides management systems for optimal power utilization and cooling facilities at telecom sites without the use of backup systems such as diesel generators. The system is known to reduce operational costs by 40% compared to conventional shelters and reduces greenhouse gas emissions by saving about 2 million kWh of power and 100 million liters of diesel oil every year. 

Industrial Info Resources (IIR) is a marketing information service specializing in industrial process, energy and financial related markets with products and services ranging from industry news, analytics, forecasting, plant and project databases, as well as multimedia services.

Review starts for Central Valley solar thermal-biomass plant

COALINGA 

    

March 11, 2009 12:08pm 

•  Would be built in Fresno County

•  Could generate over 100 Megawatts

Architect's rendering of Martifer's Central Valley plant

The official review has started by the California Energy Commission for what is believed to be the first solar thermal-biomass hybrid electric generating facility in the state.

The commission on Wednesday found the application for certification of the 106.8-megawatt San Joaquin Solar 1&2 hybrid power plant project "data adequate."

This means the commission has received enough information from the applicant for the two plants, a wholly owned subsidiary of Martifer Inc. of San Francisco, a unit of Martifer Group of Lisbon, Portugal, to start the year-long certification process.

The commission has named Julia Levin to lead the committeec to review the project. Commission Vice Chairman James Boyd is the associate member.

The committee makes sure the project meets the requirements of the California Environmental Quality Act and will examine public health and safety, environmental impacts, and engineering aspects of the proposed power plant.

The project will be located six miles east of Coalinga in Fresno County. It will be comprised of two hybrid plants with a solar field and a biomass facility capable of producing 53.4 MW net of solar electricity each. During nighttime and periods of cloud cover, the solar production will be supplemented by the biomass facility fueled by agricultural wood waste.

If approved by the commission, the project is expected to be on line by the first quarter of 2011.