SES SunCatcher Ready to Catch Some Rays

Over the last few decades, a lot of money and research has been focused on developing a technology for producing electricity from solar power at levels marketable to utility companies; however, there have been a great many technological roadblocks along the way. Historically, photovoltaic panels have produced electricity at very low efficiencies and at very high cost. Solar thermal systems have shown promise, but have had their own setbacks. Solar "power towers" and similar solar thermal systems such as solar troughs (as well as large traditional power plants) require a large amount of capital up front because the facility won't produce any power until it is complete. Nevertheless, Stirling Energy Systems has developed a solar thermal technology that shows significant promise for producing electricity from the sun.

Their product, called the SES SunCatcher^TM uses parabolic dishes to focus sunlight on a simple Stirling heat engine, generating electricity. One of the greatest benefits of this system over previous solar thermal technologies is that it is modular in nature, much like wind turbines. This allows power companies to start producing and selling electricity as soon as the first unit is completed, as well as allowing them to expand continuously, restricted only by the amount of land they own. Another advantage is that a single unit could be purchased by a private homeowner in a solar-rich region to produce enough power for his or her home, with the excess being sold back to the power company.

SES claims that each individual unit is capable of producing up to 60,000 kWh annually, which is enough to power about 5 households, according to the EIA. Currently, there are two large-scale facilities being built in the deserts of California. According to SES, when completed and fully operational, these two facilities (Solar One and Solar Two) will have a combined peak output of 1,750 MW and a footprint of about 10 square miles. According to projections by the Nevada State Office of Energy, this could count for over 10% of Nevada's peak energy demands for the year 2026.

It is clear that this technology is ready to start meeting a significant portion of the energy demands of regions of the country rich in sunlight, such as Las Vegas and Los Angeles. With some tax incentives and mandates from the government, this technology could rapidly be implemented to lighten the load placed on traditional energy sources, such as natural gas.