"We see a requirement to get solar stations to market on a larger scale and quickly"

Late last year, SHEC Energy Corporation's solar thermal generation technology attracted a grant worth $40 million or so.

For the same, the facilities of the company were visited by a government agency representative to perform a technical assessment of SHEC's technology.

The technology examined was a mobile pilot plant involved in field trials for two years. The mobile pilot plant was dismantled and inspected for corrosion and wear. The plant consisted of a solar concentrator that concentrated sunlight by a factor of up to 5,000, directing it into a solar receiver to be harnessed. "Despite the intense solar energy conditions endured by the receiver, it was found to be in pristine condition. Although several minor wear issues were identified and resolved, ultimately the core technology performed flawlessly, proving ready for commercialisation. Commercial-scale systems will concentrate sunlight by factors of up to 16,000," the company had stated.

SHEC is required to raise matching funds of $60 million in order to access the grant. The funds will be used to establish manufacturing operations that could produce up to 100 megawatts of solar thermal station components per year.

In an interview with CSPToday.com, SHEC Energy Corporation's president and CEO Tom Beck spoke about the SHEC's technology, progress made by the concentrator and much more. Excerpts:

CSPToday.com: Can you provide an insight into SHEC's technology, for which  a mobile pilot plant involved in field trials for two years was examined?

Tom Beck: SHEC has had in field trials a small scale solar concentrator using its advanced solar receiver technology.  The field trials were for an extended period of time to see what would happen in real world conditions. 

There were a number of minor weather exposure problems that were identified and corrected, but the primary solar receiver technology was in factory new condition which was to our great satisfaction, proving the technology was commercially practical.

CSPToday.com: The mobile pilot plant consisted of a solar concentrator that concentrated sunlight by a factor of up to 5,000, directing it into a solar receiver to be harnessed. How has the development of this concentrator progressed? Can you discuss features and how is it going to be efficient?

Tom Beck: One of the major energy losses in concentrating solar systems is from energy that is radiated from the target.  By super concentrating, the target size is significantly reduced and therefore so is the radiant energy loss.  This creates new problems however because the solar beam is so intense that it destroys the target in a relatively short time.  SHEC has developed a process that works without target destruction for a prolonged period of time. 

CSPToday.com: According to SHEC, sunlight has been concentrated up to 5,000 times the intensity of the sun and in commercial scale systems could be high as 11,000 to 16,000 times the intensity of the sun. What according to you is going to be the key in achieving the same? Also, can you provide info on solar receiver developed for the same?

Tom Beck: Achieving the super high intensity beam is a mater of optics and new problems are created which we have solved, but not yet filed IP on so we cannot discuss these technology solutions.

CSPToday.com: SHEC is required to raise matching funds of $60 million in order to access the grant. How have you moved on this and what do you think are the greatest challenges for you to achieve the same?

Tom Beck: We are finding that a number of institutional investors have taken an interest in this.  The project size is large enough to attract some of the larger firms.  We are having much greater interest in these larger scale projects than we every had on smaller projects.

CSPToday.com: According to SHEC, the funds will be used to establish manufacturing operations that could produce up to 100 megawatts of solar thermal station components per year. Can you elaborate on the plans for the same and what would this mean for the solar thermal power industry on the whole?

Tom Beck: We have actually identified several gigawatts of solar requirement in our initial limited market investigation.  With 100MW of production capacity, it would take 10 years to produce 1 GW of solar thermal generation stations.  We see a requirement to get solar stations to market on a larger scale and quickly and would like to ramp up the manufacturing capacity to achieve this.  This will require more capital.  This is an essential industry on a global scale to reduce our dependence on finite supplies on non-renewable and polluting energy sources.  SHEC will be able to provide base load power in areas with good solar conditions.

CSPToday.com: Considering the spate of start-ups in this sector, how do you foresee SHEC Energy Corporation differentiating its offerings and carving a niche for itself?

Tom Beck: SHEC has developed a disruptive - next generation technology that incorporates a very efficient solar receiver technology with only a five percent emissivity loss at 850C (1542F).  This means we have a solar (from the mirror) to thermal efficiency of about 95 percent.  This is incredibly high. 

We have also developed unique proprietary manufacturing process that give SHEC another economic advantage.  Our best estimates on the levelized cost of production with all costs in (installation, maintenance, operation and financing) could be under 4 cents per KWH under optimal solar conditions.  This is comparable to wind and coal with the benefit of 2- hour base-load power and no fossil fuel consumption.