Solar Power
Posted: 24 Mar 2009 09:10
just got out a semi-secret meeting with the "Division Co-ordinator",
basically the big boss - the division of the company I "work" for has
just be called "Wind Energy" - apparently that's going to be changed -
"Renewable Production" or somesuch.
Anyway, it looks like a huge solar collector-tube project is going to
get the go ahead out around Midland sometime this year. Each "collector"
is about twice the size of a football field - the collector material is a
half-pipe shape, 150 yards long by 50 yards across. There are mirrors
along the sides, to focus sunlight in the "trench" - and here's the kicker
for us - each collector will have 1,400 electric motors to turn the mirrors.
So we'll be installing all these motors and controllers, and I'll guarantee
there will be a huge maintenance crew needed - I don't think the German
engineers took West Texas dust into account - their cabinets suck.
Anyway, as soon as I can get some photos of these things, I'll post them.
The company man had some slides he acted like were State Secrets.
I'd seen this tube-collector idea before, but nothing this big - and they're
talking about several hundred of these per "farm". So big land areas will
be needed, like for the windfarms, but it's going to have to be flat - lucky
we got some of that there out in West Texas.
We also got the go-ahead for three other (wind) projects, all along the
I-20 corridor, west of Abilene - (there are three projects under construction
right now that we're on) - and atleast eight more coming down the pipe
this year. (And this is just my company - other projects are cropping up
all over the damn place.)
So, as the kids say : It's On ....
basically the big boss - the division of the company I "work" for has
just be called "Wind Energy" - apparently that's going to be changed -
"Renewable Production" or somesuch.
Anyway, it looks like a huge solar collector-tube project is going to
get the go ahead out around Midland sometime this year. Each "collector"
is about twice the size of a football field - the collector material is a
half-pipe shape, 150 yards long by 50 yards across. There are mirrors
along the sides, to focus sunlight in the "trench" - and here's the kicker
for us - each collector will have 1,400 electric motors to turn the mirrors.
So we'll be installing all these motors and controllers, and I'll guarantee
there will be a huge maintenance crew needed - I don't think the German
engineers took West Texas dust into account - their cabinets suck.
Anyway, as soon as I can get some photos of these things, I'll post them.
The company man had some slides he acted like were State Secrets.
I'd seen this tube-collector idea before, but nothing this big - and they're
talking about several hundred of these per "farm". So big land areas will
be needed, like for the windfarms, but it's going to have to be flat - lucky
we got some of that there out in West Texas.
We also got the go-ahead for three other (wind) projects, all along the
I-20 corridor, west of Abilene - (there are three projects under construction
right now that we're on) - and atleast eight more coming down the pipe
this year. (And this is just my company - other projects are cropping up
all over the damn place.)
So, as the kids say : It's On ....