Giant solar plane can stay airborne for over 5 years without refueling and could replace satellites

Image: titanaerospace.com

Michael Richard | TreeHugger.com

...And they could theoretically stay up even longer...
Solar aviation is still in its infancy, but it's getting better all the time. We might never see big passenger airplanes being solar powered, but there's all kinds of other cool stuff that can be done with this technology. A good example is what Titan Aerospace is doing with its high-altitude solar-powered unmanned plane.

As Spectrum writes: "The Solara is intended to loft a payload to 20,000 meters [60,000+ feet] and then keep it [there] for five years, running entirely on solar power. It functions a bit like a satellite, except substantially cheaper and much more versatile. And, you can get it back when you're done."

Image: titanaerospace.com

The Titan Solara 50 solar plane is huuuge. The wingspan is about 150 feet! It can carry a payload of around 250lbs to "atmospheric orbit" and then stay operational up there thanks to its 3,000 solar cells that can produce 7 kW of electricity (and because it flies above the clouds, it's always sunny during daytime).

Image: titanaerospace.com

Applications for these types of solar planes are very varied, from disaster rapid response to anti-piracy (the real kind, out at sea) surveillance, to crop monitoring, fire monitoring, providing internet access to remote regions, all kinds of scientific missions (ocean monitoring, cosmic ray monitoring, atmospheric science, weather monitoring, etc). Basically a lot of things that you can do with a satellite, but cheaper, and if your mission is limited in time, you can then land the plane and change up the equipment instead of having a useless/obsolete satellite in orbit.



Source: treehugger.com

World's largest solar power plant opens in Abu Dhabi

• 100-megawatt plant will power thousands United Arab Emirates homes
• It is hoped that it will also displace 175,000 tons of CO2 each year
• Plant covers 2.5 sq/km of desert, equivalent to 285 football pitches

You might think that as one of the world's top oil producing nations, the United Arab Emirates would have little use for solar energy.
But that hasn't stopped the Middle East state from unveiling the largest concentrated solar power plant in operation anywhere in the world.
The 100-megawatt solar-thermal project in Abu Dhabi will power thousands of homes in the country and, it is hoped, displace approximately 175,000 tons of CO2 per year.

 The world's largest: The Shams 1 concentrated solar energy power plant in Abu Dhabi features more than 258,000 mirrors mounted on 768 tracking parabolic trough collectors, covering an area of 2.5 sq/km

Powerful: In addition, the solar project uses a booster to heat steam as it enters the turbine to dramatically increase the cycle's efficiency

The $600million (£398million) project dubbed Shams 1 took three years to build.

Incorporating the latest in parabolic trough technology, the plant features more than 258,000 mirrors mounted on 768 tracking parabolic trough collectors, covering an area of 2.5 sq/km, or 285 football fields.

By concentrating heat from direct sunlight onto oil-filled pipes, Shams 1 produces steam, which drives a turbine to generate electricity.

In addition, the solar project uses a booster to heat steam as it enters the turbine to dramatically increase the cycle's efficiency.

The project also includes a dry-cooling system that significantly reduces water consumption - a critical advantage in the arid desert of western Abu Dhabi.

In the sweltering heat of the Arabian sun, Shams 1 generates electricity to power 20,000 homes in the UAE.

And because solar power is generated during peak demand the UAE is able to reduce the need for 'peak shaving' generators, which are expensive and idle most of the year.

Masdar, Abu Dhabi's renewable energy company, partnered with French energy company Total and Spain's energy infrastructure company Abengoa to build the plant.

'The Middle East holds nearly half of the world's renewable energy potential,' said Santiago Seage, CEO of Abengoa Solar.

'The abundance of solar energy is an opportunity to integrate sustainable, clean sources of power that address energy security and climate change.

'The region needs more projects like Shams 1, and we look forward to pushing the boundaries of future energy.

SOURCE