Solar Chimney Turbines (or solar updraft towers)

<<A new energy concept called a solar tower could generate enough electricity for 200,000 homes. Looking like a giant smokestack, it would release no noxious fumes — just sun-heated air.>> Source: www.livescience.com/technology/080702-pf-solar-tower.html /

See also: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Solar_updraft_tower

Advantages to Adoption:

1. Zero Emissions – Power Station that gives off no greenhouse gases



2. Ample Resource: Sun Solar Map

<<The South African solar map has been redrawn to make it applicable to photovoltaic installations. This has been done with the aim of reducing the cost of solar PV installations in South Africa through accurate energy resource assessment and competent system design. Climate data software as well as solar design software was used to aid this process. The new map provides an alternative to the map in current use, which only considers radiation, whereas many more factors affect the output of a panel, such as wind, cloud cover and humidity. All these are taken into account when drawing the new map.>>

Source: By: Munzhedzi, R.; Sebitosi, A.B.. Renewable Energy: An International Journal, Jan2009, Vol. 34 Issue 1, p165-169, 5p; DOI: 10.1016/j.renene.2008.03.023; (AN 34435297) (Can be found in Science Direct Database)

See Also: www.solar4power.com/solar-power-global-maps.html

Challenges to Adoption:

1. Uncertain ROI / Large Initial Investment

<<There is still a great amount of uncertainty and debate on what the cost of production for electricity would be for a solar updraft tower and whether a tower (large or small) can be made profitable. Schlaich et al.[1] estimate a cost of electricity between 7 (for a 200 MW plant) and 21 (for a 5 MW plant) euro cents per kWh, but other estimates indicate that the electricity cannot possibly be cheaper than 25-35 cents per kWh.[38] Compare this to LECs of approximately 5 US cents per KWh for a 100 MW plant, wind or natural gas.[39] No reliable electricity cost figures will exist until such time as actual data are available on a utility scale power plant, since cost predictions for a time scale of 25 years or more are unreliable.[40]>> Source: Wikipedia

2. Size

<<However, a solar tower must be fairly big to be effective. EnviroMission has recently developed a slightly smaller design that has a maximum output of 50 megawatts that may be appropriate in some markets.>>: www.livescience.com/technology/080702-pf-solar-tower.html