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Technology

The Solar Dish-Turbine platform is an advanced concentrating Solar Dish-Turbine design that provides firm solar power for worldwide utility markets. Roughly 90% of the structure is shared between two core configurations – a base configuration and a second configuration utilizing large-scale energy storage.

	Advanced Solar Dish. At 22 meters (75 feet) in diameter and capturing over 320 square meters of the sun’s energy, the TurboSolar dish surface is the backbone of SST’s platform. Its mirrors are designed and manufactured to maximize energy output and minimize cost; the parabolic surface reflects 94% of the sunlight it receives. When concentrated onto the receiver, the collective rays superheat compressed air to 1700°F and drive turbines to generate utility-ready electricity. Using minimal water and with a relatively small physical footprint, TurboSolar units are much more versatile and easier to site than other CSP technologies, making it an ideal technology for desert and other low-water locations.

Advanced Solar Dish. At 22 meters (75 feet) in diameter and capturing over 320 square meters of the sun’s energy, the TurboSolar dish surface is the backbone of SST’s platform. Its mirrors are designed and manufactured to maximize energy output and minimize cost; the parabolic surface reflects 94% of the sunlight it receives. When concentrated onto the receiver, the collective rays superheat compressed air to 1700°F and drive turbines to generate utility-ready electricity. Using minimal water and with a relatively small physical footprint, TurboSolar units are much more versatile and easier to site than other CSP technologies, making it an ideal technology for desert and other low-water locations.

	Base-Configured Power Conversion Unit. Built in partnership with Brayton Energy, LLC, the TurboSolar power conversion unit (PCU) is a highly-efficient solar receiver and engine utilizing turbo-alternators to generate energy. Using commercial turbine technology, the purpose-built engine is highly durable and similar to many mature, off-the-shelf power generation systems. Because of the hybridized engine design, each dish unit can utilize natural gas or alternative fuels to augment or replace the sun’s heat energy during cloud cover or after sundown, alleviating the issue of solar intermittency. The base configuration consists of an 80 kW turbine engine mounted at the focus of the concentrator and employes a recuperator (heat recovery system) to optimize the thermodynamic cycle for an overall efficiency greater than 30%.

Base-Configured Power Conversion Unit. Built in partnership with Brayton Energy, LLC, the TurboSolar power conversion unit (PCU) is a highly-efficient solar receiver and engine utilizing turbo-alternators to generate energy. Using commercial turbine technology, the purpose-built engine is highly durable and similar to many mature, off-the-shelf power generation systems. Because of the hybridized engine design, each dish unit can utilize natural gas or alternative fuels to augment or replace the sun’s heat energy during cloud cover or after sundown, alleviating the issue of solar intermittency. The base configuration consists of an 80 kW turbine engine mounted at the focus of the concentrator and employes a recuperator (heat recovery system) to optimize the thermodynamic cycle for an overall efficiency greater than 30%.

	Storage-Configured Power Conversion Unit. A second configuration of the TurboSolar platform offers utility customers the opportunity to incorporate bulk energy storage into its generation portfolio. Utilities integrating intermittent wind power, or those with excess baseload capacity (e.g. coal or nuclear), can pair the technology with compressed air energy storage (CAES) to boost the per-dish energy yield to 200kW. This storage-configured version of the engine uses air that is compressed using off-peak power via ground-mounted industrial compressors, which are sized to serve multiple Solar Dish-Turbine units. The compressors are operated at night or other times of low-cost power, storing air in manufactured pressure vessels or geologic reservoirs, such as salt caverns, aquifers, or depleted natural gas wells.

Storage-Configured Power Conversion Unit. A second configuration of the TurboSolar platform offers utility customers the opportunity to incorporate bulk energy storage into its generation portfolio. Utilities integrating intermittent wind power, or those with excess baseload capacity (e.g. coal or nuclear), can pair the technology with compressed air energy storage (CAES) to boost the per-dish energy yield to 200kW. This storage-configured version of the engine uses air that is compressed using off-peak power via ground-mounted industrial compressors, which are sized to serve multiple Solar Dish-Turbine units. The compressors are operated at night or other times of low-cost power, storing air in manufactured pressure vessels or geologic reservoirs, such as salt caverns, aquifers, or depleted natural gas wells.

Southwest Solar Technologies Inc.

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