News Article
Composite bearings technology could provide solution for solar applications
An early glimpse into the 2013 Annual Energy Outlook from the US Energy Information Administration reveals that increased generation from renewable energy is expected to account for 32 per cent of the overall domestic growth in electricity generation from 2011 to 2040.
Industry materials company, Saint-Gobain Performance Plastics has seen this as an opportune time to announce its initiatives for composite bearings applications in renewable energy markets.
The Bearings and Tolerance Rings Group at Saint-Gobain designs composite bearings solutions that withstand harsh vibration, improve efficiency, extend performance and reduce operational downtime in both solar energy and wind turbine applications.
As part of its strategic focus in renewable energy markets, Saint-Gobain has added the design engineering expertise of Industrial Global Market Manager, Edward Rumble to its team. With his extensive design and engineering experience, Rumble will lead the increasing efforts to develop the next generation of composite bearings for solar and wind applications.
"Renewable energy, fuelled by innovative solar and wind turbine technologies, will prove to be the future of sustainable power generation", said Rumble. "To help today's and tomorrow's leaders in renewable energy production, we are committed to partnering with OEMs to deliver innovative solutions that enhance efficiency in solar and wind applications".
For the solar market, Saint-Gobain manufactures an innovative, maintenance-free composite bearing. Proprietary fluoropolymer compounds in SOLGLIDE composite bearings increase the long-term operational efficiency of solar equipment, reduce energy usage and decrease long-term costs.
SOLGLIDE composite bearings are specifically designed for Concentrated Solar Power (CSP) plants, applied at pivot points in all major tracking systems.
Rumble and his team of design engineering experts are currently working on innovative composite configurations for bearings that offer even greater performance for large scale CSP projects.