The Jerusalem company Luz was resurrected to build solar towers to generate electricity
by Eitan Crane. Published in Scientific American Israel, April 2008
The spot of light that flickered lightly, on a spectacular winter's day, on the wall of one of the buildings in the Har Khotsavim industrial area in Jerusalem also symbolizes a bright spot in the story of the Luz company. As a former Jerusalemite, I well remember the disappointment that accompanied the closure of Luz in 1991 after in the 80s the company led the field of concentrating the sun's rays in the world and established several large solar farms to generate electricity in California. Luz engineers did disperse, but maintained a close personal relationship. "We were called the 'Luz Brothers'," says the company's CEO Israel Kreuzer, then when Arnold Goldman re-established the company in 2004, the engineers returned and gathered at the company Luz 2, which is a subsidiary of the American Bright Source. The original Luz was established to offer an alternative to oil after its price rose following the fuel crisis of the 70s. Therefore, when fuel prices fell, so did the interest in alternative energy. Now the situation is different, not only that oil prices have risen again, but also that today the world is looking not only for alternative energy but also for sources of clean energy. "The change began 4-3 years ago when America also became interested in green energy and returned to the solar market," says Kreuzer.
The spot of light was created during an experiment in one of the rectangular mirrors standing in the company's experimental field. Each mirror, which has an area of 7.3 square meters, stands on a metal pole on which is installed a system that moves the mirror in two axes, a horizontal axis and a vertical axis. The device, called the heliostat, beeps every 10 seconds, a signal that the mirror has made a tiny, invisible movement to adjust to the sun's position in the sky and continue to return its light to exactly that spot. In a future commercial solar farm there will be about 40,000 heliostats, whose mirrors will be twice as large as those of the experimental facility. All the mirrors will concentrate the sunlight to one tower that will rise to a height of about 80 meters. A "receiver" will be installed at the top of the tower that will produce steam at a temperature of 565-550 degrees Celsius and a pressure of 160-140 atmospheres. The steam will drive a turbine to generate electricity. In the spring of 2008, the company plans to inaugurate an experimental facility on the Rotem plain in the Negev that will include 1,700 heliostats and a tower. Hagai Hoss, the development engineer who accompanies me on the tour, second generation in the company - his father worked at Blues in its first incarnation and returned to it when it was re-established - explains to me that the heliostats follow the sun according to pre-programming. Every heliostat takes into account its own absolute position, its angle relative to the ground, the position of the tower and the exact position of the sun in the sky at every moment throughout the year. Each of the tens of thousands of heliostats in the field has its own data and its own control card that ensures that they all direct the sunlight to the same spot on the top of the tower. Designing this precise control was a difficult engineering, physical and mathematical challenge.
Concentrating sunlight using a field of mirrors and a tower is, Blues 2 admits, a better method than the parabolic mirrors developed by the company in the past. With this method, it is possible to reach higher temperatures that allow a better conversion of the thermal energy into electrical energy. The biaxial tracking also improves the system's usefulness in winter. The method is also cheaper: the materials needed are simple and cheaper than those needed for photovoltaic collectors and the installations are simpler than those in today's solar farms whose main cost comes from parabolic mirrors and pipes for transporting hot liquid. In 1982, the US Department of Energy in California built Solar-1, a 10 megawatt station based on a solar tower, because even then the US believed that the future lay in this technology. But after Luz introduced the parabolic mirror technology, she took over the market and all the stations built since then were based on her method. "Today some come to us with claims that after we convinced the whole world that parabolic mirrors are better, we are going back to Migdal Shemesh," says Kreuzer with a smile. The reason for this is the control. In a field of parabolic mirrors all the mirrors move in parallel and their control is simple. On the other hand, in the field of Migdal Shemesh, each sight must be followed and inspected separately. This is a level of control that was not possible in the 80s. "Simplicity in control is the beauty of parabolic mirrors, complex control is not an advantage," says Kreuzer, "but now it is possible and that's why we decided to return to tower technology."
But could solar energy really be the main solution to the energy needs of the USA, as suggested by the authors of the article "The Great Solar Plan" on page 22, or of other sunny countries like Israel? Blues 2 sees solar energy as only one component of a variety of solutions and not a main solution. The transition to alternative energy will be gradual and one should not expect a sharp jump that will occur following new technology. The energy market is an old market, huge sums have been invested in it, and quick revolutions should not be expected. But the perceptual change is happening. As an example, Blues 2 brings the energy of the wind. In the late 80s, the companies involved in this in the US went out of business, but in Europe they agreed to subsidize the technology and today there are countries where the wind provides a significant share of their energy. Blues 2 believe that a similar thing will happen in America to solar energy and that this time, unlike in the past, the United States will meet the goals for a gradual transition to alternative energies.
And in Israel? America has vast expanses of desert that allow it to deploy very large solar farms, but in Israel, the most valuable resource is land. "In my opinion," says Kreuzer, "Israel should guard its land resources jealously, while solar energy is a voracious consumer of land." He does not foresee the establishment of huge solar farms in Israel. Although many see the Negev as a suitable area for this purpose, the other uses of the area must be taken into account: military areas, nature reserves, settlements, Bedouin population and more. Loz 2 therefore predicts that the electric company will build solar plants in Israel with a capacity of several hundred megawatts, that is, less than 5% of the energy supply, and no more. The advantage of Israel, for which it is worthwhile to establish solar farms in Israel, is the technology. "The solar companies will be able to fulfill in Israel the role that 'Nokia' fulfills in Finland in the field of mobile phones." The Israeli government is about to launch a tender soon for the construction of a 250 megawatt station. Luz 2 intends to enter the tender and the company believes in its ability to win it. An Israeli company winning the tender will advance the country's position as a technological center in the solar market.
Luz 2 intends to start building commercial power plants in 2011. Initially, a field of 100 megawatts is planned and then the establishment of additional fields with capacities of hundreds of megawatts. The main market is the American market, followed by Europe and Israel. The company anticipates that in the long term it will be able to compete with the price of electricity produced from burning fuels plus the carbon tax that will be imposed on them. The source of the economic optimism is the recognition that unlike the energy crises of the 70s and 80s, this time it is a deeper and long-term change. The recognition that the world must switch to clean energy, and that high oil prices will continue to rise, reinforces the belief that in this incarnation Luz will be on the map again and will stay on it.
Dr. Eitan Crane is the Scientific-Operational Editor of Scientific American Israel and heads the Culture-Science Program at Hamada - the center for scientific education in Tel Aviv.
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I agree with what was said.. that is why there are alternative sources of energy such as solar energy that can provide us with the needs to produce electricity and energy..
Ethan Crane, this is excellent coverage!
But as Dov said - the State of Israel, with its bureaucracy, piles serious problems on the field's entry into Israel, on the other hand, the Electric Company, by guaranteeing high rates for buying electricity, actually encourages the field. Hope they succeed!
The State of Israel and the bureaucracy and the Israel Lands Administration are forcing the use of fertile agricultural land to establish farms
Energy instead of using mountains and rocks. If you have already decided to engage in the field, covering roofs has filled up a lot of space
fertile? There is no reason just greed
Thousands of such farms should be established in Africa, there are endless areas there.
Africa could sell the electricity to European/Asian countries and thus earn some money and also contribute to the environment.
Everything starts and ends with the economy. The original Luz went bankrupt because oil prices, which had risen sharply following the oil crisis of 1973, returned and fell during the eighties. The ability of Luz 2 to survive will be related to its ability to provide energy that will not be much more expensive than the price of a barrel of oil of 50 dollars. In this way, it will have a chance, even when the oil producers defeat themselves and oil prices return and fall following the entry of energy producing competitors in various fields.
Why a barrel of oil at 50 dollars? To remind you, this is the price that was only a year ago and it was considered a very high price back then...
The prices of a barrel of oil are a relative matter and currently the market is controlled by speculators and hedge funds. But the speculation caused real damage to the physical world and this world is coming to its senses and even Luz has been resurrected. But in order for Luz 2 to survive it must be ready to work at a "normal" oil price level of a price that is considered reasonable Just a year ago. If Luz 2 is planning its future on an oil barrel price of $100 or more, then you should start calculating your end backwards...
In recent years solar panels have developed a lot through research in materials!
In my opinion, it is necessary to invest in biological chemical research in materials to create the ultimate panel as small as possible with a high production capacity, of course to place more wind turbines in places with high wind gusts. And there are many other options.
Just for this article it was worth opening the computer this morning!
If they had invested a lot of money in the development and research of alternative energy systems in recent decades, we would be in a completely different position today, only in recent years has there been an emphasis on the issue.
Nimrod oil's time will come when it runs out at astronomical prices.
And not at floor prices of less than a bottle of Coke today.
The bigger problem is the coal, much more polluting, and much cheaper.
I am very happy that they are finally beginning to understand that oil's time has passed, it brings with it many bad things: enormous environmental pollution, skyrocketing prices day by day, a depleting source, subsidizing all terrorist countries and terrorism itself and a lack of investment in alternative energies, so I am very happy that finally in recent years investments More and more in alternative and clean energies.
Indeed, nuclear energy is available and cheap, but if nuclear reactors become widespread, including in third world countries, they could serve as a basis for the production of nuclear weapons.
Therefore it is better to find another cheap and green available energy source that will be used by the whole world.
There is already a cheap and reliable clean energy source
4th generation plutonium reactors
L Optimi: Yes, it is known that Iceland is a powerhouse in the production of geothermal energy and even invented electricity for its neighbors.
In my opinion, we can also generate geothermal electricity, but someone needs to stand up and wake up the country.
I saw on the Discovery channel that electricity is produced from geothermal energy. They drill a hole with a diameter of about 20 cm and a depth of several kilometers in an area where there is a geological fault (such as the Syrian-African fault) and reach an area where the temperature is about 300 degrees. If there is trapped water there then steam is produced from this water and if the area is dry then water is compressed in and steam is produced. Experts say it is an inexhaustible source of energy. Today this is only applicable in geological fractures, but today drilling methods are being developed that will allow drilling to greater depths and reaching the above temperature even in an area where there is no fracture.
Since we are fortunately located in an area of a geological fault, why not try to produce such energy???
And why are they giving up on the Australian market.
I really don't know what goes on there in terms of marketing, but I know there are vast desert areas there.
France is the most energy independent Western country due to heavy investment in nuclear power, which also makes France the smallest producer of carbon dioxide among the seven most industrialized countries in the world. As a result of large investments in nuclear technology, most of the electricity produced in the country is generated by nuclear power plants (78.1% in 2006,[31] up from only 8% in 1973, 24% in 1980, and 75% in 1990).
This can be used as a telescope to amplify light from distant stars
This will be much more efficient than the current 5% energy supply.
The costs for building the station did not change, the price of oil did not really increase.
And it is currently about NIS 3.50 for a liter and a half bottle.
The maintenance of a facility of this size must also be taken into account.
and the area of land that it confiscates, and the damage to the natural environment.
So we will probably remember well in the future the disappointment that accompanied the closure of Luz 2