Quote:
Originally Posted by oil pan 4
The bird incinerator in California only produces about half the power they thought it would.
Much worse cost per watt than home roof top grid tied solar.
Cheap panels are getting close to $1/watt, high end made in USA panels are close to $3/watt.
Those gigantic bird incinerators are all labor and material costs and will only get more and more expensive to build as time goes on.
Solar panels and inverters will likely to continue to keep getting cheaper.
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By their very nature and scope, the heliostat farms are still pretty much "prototypes". Thusly build costs are much higher than the coal plants they are meant to replace but are far lower in costs than a nuclear power plant. Want to make a bet that they will be on par with coal plants in the near future? Major corporations have made that bet and the US Government has backed them up with loan guarantees.
You seem to think the bird burning is an unsolvable issue as well as the costs. Neither is a game stopper. The costs will come down as experience is gained and design elements are standardized. Bird deaths are most likely over inflated but basic precautions such as covering ponds and trash bins so as not to attract birds is a simple step. Electronically warding off the insects attracted to the light and thus attracting bug eating birds is another simple step. Deploying proven technologies such as LRADs (Long range acoustic devices) which are in use to ward off birds in many airports is another.
Even though the power output has been a mere fraction of it's "rated" capacity, you must understand that Ivanpah has only been in operation since 2013. It's first year of operation saw many stoppages caused by situations other than plant breakdowns and weather. The stoppages to asses the bird deaths contributed to the "lack of production". So did the need to fence the perimeter to keep out ground animals. Inspection down time has to be included in this. This is all just part of the growing pains of a prototype system. Ivanpah is a large scale prototype. It will NEVER reach it's rated capacity. It cannot until an integral energy storage system is functioning. There are far more heliostat mirrors on the farms than needed at peak sunshine so that full power can be achieved at early and late day light. If that capacity can be captured and stored, the plant can meet and even exceed the current rated capacity.
Again, I stress the need for an energy mix. Rooftop panels may indeed become so cheap as to provide the grid with a large percentage of the power needs. However, they do not provide energy at night and will not have a low cost means of storing that energy until battery tech comes down in price and reliability. Or we find a way of storing that excess electricity in another fashion.