OFF-GRID I APPLICATION
Stand alone success
Despite the impressive growth of solar and PV the industry is still in its infancy and the potential for growth is only just being realised. Sustainable and stand alone energy solutions are going to be a large growth area and technologies are been developed to meet the needs. Solar International spoke with Zev Rosenzweig, the CEO at AORA Solar who explained the company hybrid power system.
AORA is the developer of the Tulip Solar-Biogas Hybrid Power System, a flexible solution that can supply uninterrupted green power 24 hours a day. Each Tulip produces 100 KW of electricity and 170 kW of heat energy as a by-product, making it uniquely suited for small-scale, off-grid applications for agriculture, healthcare, manufacturing, industrial, and municipal use. The Tulip may be built standalone or in multiple units linked together into a centrally controlled power plant for increased output
Q Solar and PV industries around the world are evolving towards more sustainable models not so reliant on
subsidy. Some PV opportunities have possibly sat on the back burner while the focus was on silicon based cells and panels. Do you feel this has had any impact on off-grid applications and has the changing market direction affected your area of expertise?
A AORA is involved in small-scale CSP. We were always aware that we were playing in a niche market and that
has not changed much in the last few years. We do have a better definition of our niche: off-grid power for users who need power 24/7.
Q As a developer of hybrid PV energy solutions do you feel the future for PV involves interactions with other
technologies? 64
www.solar-international.net I Issue V 2014
A Again, our technology is CSP hybrid. We depend on efficient generation of bio-gas to power our turbines
during non- solar hours. There are several emerging bio- gas technologies that use heat to accelerate the process and we generate waste heat as part of our power generation cycle, so this would be a natural plus for us.
Q Could you please tell us about your technology and how it provides 24 hour coverage?
A Our technology is based on using concentrated reflected solar heat to drive a gas turbine with pressurized hot air.
(A gas turbine is a turbine that runs on hot air, which is a gas, rather than on steam as in most CSP plants). As a consequence, our generators do not require water, another scarce resource in many places on earth. Our units are small, sized at 100kW nominal power, which is ideal for a village in the developing world. The system is modular, so as the village grows in population or in economic sophistication, they can add additional units which will function together. The small size means that the source of power is near the user, so the hot air by-product can be utilized for making hot water or cooling using absorption chilling. Only a local grid is required as the electricity is used at the “doorstep” of the plant – it does not to be transported and is not a burden on infrastructure.
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