• Higher efficiency for receivers thanks to a new coating
• Noble gas capsules extend service lives
• Optimistic view of the future of the CSP market
Mainz/Granada, September 21, 2011 – SCHOTT Solar is extending its leading position in the CSP receiver market by offering a significantly improved product design. SCHOTT Solar will be introducing an optimized SCHOTT PTR® 70 receiver that sets new standards for efficiency and long-term stability at Solarpaces, the world’s leading conference on solar thermal power plant technology (CSP). Solarpaces is being held this year from September 20 – 23, 2011, in Granada, Spain.
CSP power plants convert solar radiation into heat, which then generates electricity inside a steam turbine. The absorption capacity of the CSP receivers represents a decisive criterion for the efficiency of a power plant. The new coating that is being used in the SCHOTT PTR® 70 increases the absorption rate of the receiver to over 95.5 percent. At the same time, the emission level of the heat radiation sinks to under 9.5 percent. Thanks to the new design of the ends of the receivers and the extension of the active length to 96.7 percent of its entire length, the receiver now absorbs more solar radiation and converts it into heat. Furthermore, new, optional reflectors at the ends of the receivers ensure that even more solar radiation can be used.
Besides these increases in performance, the durability of the receivers is also vital to the economic success of a solar thermal power plant. To keep heat losses low even after many years of operation, SCHOTT Solar has developed and introduced noble gas capsules for the first time ever that are to be integrated into the vacuum region of the receivers and may be opened at any time during the service life of the power plant. Noble gas helps keep heat losses permanently low and allows for the receivers to continue to be operated in a highly efficient manner.
Optimistic view of the CSP market
SCHOTT Solar will continue to contribute to cost reductions and the success of solar thermal power plant technology by pursuing innovation and increases in efficiency. Each new power plant that connects with the grid clearly shows that CSP is a mature and reliable technology whose success story has really only just started. CSP electricity is extremely valuable because solar thermal power plants are a guarantor for stability within the grid. Unlike other types of renewable energy, the heat collected in solar thermal collector fields can be stored and converted into electricity when energy is actually needed inside the grid. This, in turn, means it is no longer necessary to maintain backup conventional power plants at extremely high costs.
Further information is available under www.schottsolar.com
SCHOTT Solar, with its high-quality products, enables the potential of the sun as a nearly inexhaustible source of energy to be utilized. And it’s for exactly that reason that SCHOTT Solar produces important components for photovoltaic applications and solar energy plants. In the photovoltaic industry, the company is one of the few integrated manufacturers of crystalline silicon wafers, cells and modules. In thin-film technology, SCHOTT Solar also describes itself as an advanced supplier due to having over twenty years of experience. And in the production of receivers for solar power plants, SCHOTT Solar sees itself as a market and technology leader. The receivers are key components in large-scale power plants that generate electricity from solar energy centrally on the basis of parabolic trough technology and are able to supply entire cities with power. SCHOTT Solar has production facilities in Germany, the Czech Republic, the USA and Spain. The innovative power and technological competence of the company date back to the late 1950s. SCHOTT Solar is a wholly owned subsidiary of the international SCHOTT technology group. SCHOTT develops special materials, components and systems for the household appliance, pharmaceutical, solar energy, electronics, optical and automotive industries. With around 17,500 employees, the SCHOTT Group generated a worldwide turnover of about 2.9 billion euros in fiscal year 2009/2010.
Contacts:
SCHOTT AG
Christina Rettig
Public Relations Manager
Phone: +49 (0)6131 – 66 4094
Fax: +49 (0)3641 – 28889 – 141
christina.rettig@schott.com
www.schottsolar.de
Fink & Fuchs Public Relations AG
Alexandra Mainka
Agency
Phone: +49 (0)611 – 74131 86
Fax: +49 (0)611 – 74131 30
alexandra.mainka@ffpr.de
www.ffpress.net
