SHEC has developed the world's most efficient Solar Thermal Power (STP) technology. Our patented technology resolves most of the primary energy loss issues experienced in other systems; cosine loss, dispersion loss and emissivity loss.
Cosine loss occurs as a result of cross-sectional area reduction as mirrors tilt to redirect sunlight to a target. This occurs in both trough and solar tower configurations.
Dispersion losses result as light disperses or spreads from flat reflective surfaces, requiring a much larger target to capture this reflected light.
Finally, emissivity losses occur as a direct result of solar receiver area and target temperature. Emissivity is the amount of heat radiated from a hot object. The formula is Temperature raised to the power of four (T4). As the temperature of an object doubles, its emissivity loss increases by 16 times. For example, at temperatures as high as 850°C (1,562°F), a temperature very useful for high efficiency steam power generation, the emissivity loss of competing technologies is significantly higher. SHEC's technology only has an emissivity loss of 5%.
In addition to resolving most of the primary energy loss issues experienced in other systems, SHEC's STP systems can operate at much higher temperatures compared to trough systems resulting in much higher turbine efficiencies as well.
SHEC's technology also dramatically improves the power distribution curve. A competitive system with a power rating of 1 MW for example, may only deliver 5 MW-hours of power per day, while SHEC's system, also rated at 1 MW, could deliver 10 MW-hours per day.
The combination of high efficiency and a superior power distribution curve allow SHEC systems to deliver power at much lower cost than competitive systems. For example, a SHEC system could deliver more than twice the watt-hours of power on a competitively priced system. Next generation technology currently in development at SHEC could potentially halve that cost again in the future.
SHEC Energy incorporated in Canada in 1996 and in the United States in 2008 with the mandate to develop clean renewable energy to be cost competitive with fossil fuels. At the time the vision was to produce hydrogen cleanly using sunlight to power automobiles and clean up the air in our major cities. Solar energy was chosen as the primary source of energy since there is enough energy bombarding the surface of the Earth from the sun to power all of humanity's energy requirements 6,000 times over. SHEC's solar thermal technology has application in power generation, heating, cooling, water desalination and alternative fuel production.
To achieve our mission objectives, SHEC had to develop a very efficient technology. SHEC achieved this by inventing technologies to minimize the energy losses in concentrating solar thermal power systems. One of the major losses was emissivity (radiant energy) loss that is very prevalent in high temperature thermal systems. In order to reduce this loss, SHEC developed very high ratio solar concentrators capable of concentrating sunlight up to 16,000 times. This dramatically reduced the target size and therefore the emissivity loss. This also created a serious problem in harnessing such an intense solar beam since the intensity was high enough to melt any material. SHEC developed a special optical solar receiver that is able to harness this energy with an efficiency of 95%.
To further lower costs, we had to develop a manufacturing process for the rapid forming of glass mirrors. Glass is the best material to provide the high efficiency specular finish for mirrors but is difficult and slow to process into the shapes required for solar concentration. SHEC has developed a proprietary manufacturing process that is 30 times (3,000%) faster than conventional glass forming technologies.
SHEC is also developing an advanced solar tower using our advanced solar receiver technology. Although not as mirror efficient as our point focus system, it provides a much higher efficiency compared to conventional tower designs by minimizing dispersion and emissivity losses. In our advanced tower, we are able to implement our advanced high temperature thermal storage technology that will enable a solar thermal plant to operate 24 hours per day. SHEC is also developing its next generation superstructure to minimize the cost of mirror holding structures and may be able to lower costs by 25% to 50% in the future.
SHEC has developed this technology over the span of more than a decade and has field proved the technology in a small scale pilot plant for over two years. The pilot plant was decommissioned, dismantled and examined for wear. The key technologies of the pilot plant were in pristine condition, proving the technology was ready for commercial scale deployment. SHEC has been awarded a grant for about $40 million and is seeking additional funds to establish manufacturing facilities, further development the technology to further lower costs and to deploy the technology globally.
