Solar thermal electricity in 1998: An IEA/SolarPACES summary of status and future prospects

摘要

Research and development activities sponsored by countries within the International Energy Agency's solar thermal working group. SolarPACES, have helped reduce the cost of solar thermal systems to one-fifth that of the early pilot plants. Continued technological improvements are currently being proven in next-generation demonstration plants. These advances, along with cost reductions made possible by scale-up to larger production and construction of a succession of power plants, have made solar thermal systems the lowest-cost solar energy in the world and promise cost-competitiveness with fossil-fuel plants in the future. Solar thermal technologies are appropriate for a wide range of applications, including dispatchable central-station power plants where they can meet peak-load to near-base-load needs of a utility, and distributed, modular power plants for both remote and grid-connected applications. In this paper, the authors present the collective position of the SolarPACES community on solar electricity-generating technology. They discuss the current status of the technology and likely near-term improvements; the needs of target markets; and important technical and financial issues that must be resolved for success in near-term global markets.