Solar power
Whether for heating water or producing energy in your own home, solar power can be used in many different ways. Our high quality products are suitable for both solar power plants and also for the private sector for the use of solar panels.
You can find our products in the following technologies:
- Parabolic trough power plants
- Tower power plants
- Fresnel
- Dish collectors
Parabolic troughs
Parabolic trough collectors are the most commonly used thermoelectric technology on the market. They use trough-shaped parabolic collectors, where the light is concentrated in a focal line and the solar radiation is reflected to an absorption pipe. Synthetic oil which is heated to about 400 °C flows through the pipes.
The success story of this power plant began in the 1980s in the USA, where a total output of 350 MW was installed. The so-called SEGS power plants were fitted up to 100% with our RotationFlex I and still use them today to a high degree. New power plants with an output of over 550 MW have been built in recent years. In Spain, over 650 MW are currently under construction with our further developed RotationFlex II system.
Dish collectors
The installation consists of a bowl-shaped solar concentrator which holds a set of curved glass mirrors. The parabolic dish follows the path of the sun and concentrates the radiation onto the thermal receiver of a highly effective Stirling engine. This converts the concentrated solar thermal energy into electricity suitable for the power grid.
Inside the engine, the thermal receiver heats the operating fluid in a closed circuit and applies pressure to it. The operating fluid (usually hydrogen or helium) is circulated through the engine, with the thermal energy being converted into kinetic energy. Our specially designed solar tube for dish collectors safely transports gas or reliably supplies the cooling cycle.
Fresnel
Linear Fresnel collectors use a similar electricity generation technology to parabolic dishes, i.e. linear light focusing. The difference between these and parabolic troughs is the fixed position of the absorber over a field of horizontally mounted flat mirror strips, which are carried along with the sun, either individually or jointly.
These installations are currently under development with the first pilot installations in operation. In Europe, a pilot installation with 1.4 MW is currently in service in Spain. Due to the positive outcome, a second installation is already under construction at the same location (30 MW). Our ExtensionFlex Fresnel solution is running in the Puerto Errado 1 and 2 project, which is operated in Spain by Novatec BioSol.