SunOyster to Supply 63 Concentrator Systems to plants in China
The bi-axially tracking systems, the "SunOyster 16", concentrate sunlight through semi-parabolic mirrors onto a linear-shaped receiver and achieve an energy-based total efficiency of up to 75 per cent.
In the spring of this year, SunOyster Systems will first deliver 13 plants of the SunOyster zero series to supply energy to Chinese apartment houses. The hybrid receivers will initially generate electricity by means of solar cells. Since the cells are actively cooled by a heat transfer fluid, the receiver will also co-generate heat, which can be used to heat space, water as well as to drive refrigerating machines. For this first part of the demonstration project, SunOyster Systems will be installing high quality back-contact silicon cells that have an electrical system efficiency of 15 per cent. Their thermal efficiency amounts to 60 per cent. They can only be operated, however, at transfer fluid temperatures of up to 100° Celsius.
For the second batch from the pre-series of the SunOyster systems, receivers with concentrator cells shall be used. They achieve an electrical system efficiency of up to 30 per cent and can be operated at transfer fluid temperatures of up to 200° Celsius, which expands their range of use. The mirrors of the concentrator systems have a surface area of 16 square metres and reach 5 kW of electric and 7.5 kW of thermal power. Whereas the electricity generated by the concentrator cells is directly fed into the grid, the operator Yonghao Gangue Power Plant will use the co-generated heat to pre-heat feed water for the operation of a coal-fired power plant. Since this heat, with an efficiency of 10 per cent, contributes to additional electricity generation, the overall system's total electrical efficiency is 40 per cent.
"We are very proud to use this new and innovative technology in our power plant", says Hongbo Kung, managing director of the Yonghao Gangue Power Plant Ltd. Together with the group Chinacoal Shanxi G-Ocean, the power plant operator has permits and plans for several hundred megawatts of solar energy. "The SunOyster systems will help us save fuel and relieve the atmosphere from carbon dioxide and fine dust, the latter of which has become so critical in China these days."
The managing director of SunOyster Systems, Dr. Carsten Corino, sees significant market potential in China for this innovative technology: "žWhile the German market is weakening, the Chinese solar market is making great strides at becoming the largest market in the world. The north and the west of the country have a good direct irradiation, and many coal power plants, mines and energy-intensive industries could profit from the double yield from SunOyster systems. There will be further chances for our technology in the field of sustainable building construction as China continues to urbanise."
