May 12 2010
Abengoa Solar has commenced the commercial functioning of Solnova 1, the novel parabolic trough technology facility situated at the Solúcar Platform.
The parabolic trough technology incorporated at the Solnova 1 plant was created by Abengoa Solar. This technology has integrated the design enhancement ASTRØ parabolic trough collector that provides superior precision attributed to its exclusive alignment and construction process and design.
The success of the Solnova 1 plant, constructed by Abener, can be attributed to the usage of a start-up station driven by a motor, knowledge accumulated by Abengoa Solar by means of its trough pilot plant constructed in 2007 as well the expertise of technical personnel specializing in collector manufacturing, process optimization and optical alignment.
The Solnova 1 plant of 50 MW capacity is likely to generate sufficient clean energy for powering 25,700 homes, while offsetting around 31,400 tons of carbon dioxide annually.
This new plant comprises approximately 980,000 sq. ft. of mirrors covering an area of around 280 acres. The plant utilizes technology that focuses solar radiation onto a pipe that absorbs heat. A liquid flows inside the pipe which reaches high temperatures. This liquid’s energy gets transferred to the water vapor which ends up in a turbo-generator, in which the water vapor expands for producing electricity.