BrightSource's novel solar thermal power concept for California heats up - Los Angeles Times 2 questions: Why not 1000 MWs? The terawatt thresh hold would have been cool. How come American entrepreneurs aren't so bold?
They are. But Goldman has a lot of expertise. Isreal has worse energy security concerns than we do so they've been motivated for quite a while. CSP is gonna huge in this country. It way well give wind a run for its money in the next decade.
The plants are optimized for efficiency. The success is in cost per kWh, not total size. A bigger plant would require more heliostats in a addtional ring farther away. Just happens to be at the point of diminishing returns. Please note that the founder of Brightsource is an American. He lead the effort that resulted in America having the first large scale solar plants in the world (that are ALL still operating). Unfortunately, changing American legislation (caused by low oil prices) resulted in bankrupting the company around 1991. As a result, Brightsource wants to ensure that they have a worldwide market for their technology, so that they do not end up in the same situation again. The very good news is that these guys know how to do it right.
