With recent forecasts that Britain is set to miss the EU renewable energy target by 2020, the U.S. announced plans yesterday to build the country’s largest photovoltaic solar plant in Florida. And with no such announcements from the British government, is there a lesson to be learnt from our transatlantic cousins?
As utilities across Britain and the U.S. try to find cleaner sources of power, some are turning to large-scale solar plants. But the majority of the plants are not using the more modern technology of photovoltaic panels (PV Cells) which generate electricity directly from the sun’s radiation. Instead they use mirrors to focus the sunlight, heat water, produce steam and turn turbines.
The SunPower Corp. of San Jose plans to build their plant in Florida’s Desoto County and unlike most large-scale solar panels, which rely on concentrators to target the Sun energy to the centre of the PV Cells; the SunPower project will use the same solar panels that homeowners install on their rooftops.
This recent technology not only concentrates the sun’s energy – like other solar panels – it also traps the radiation and collects the energy that has traditionally escaped. This is due to photovoltaic cells being positioned at the edges of the panel, instead of solely setting them within the centre.
The plant is estimated to generate up to 25 megawatts of electricity, which is enough to power around 18,750 homes. The SunPower Corp. has also planned to build a smaller facility, generating 10 megawatts, at the Kennedy Space Centre, Orlando. Despite the company not releasing the financial details of the deal, both plants will be owned by Florida Power & Light Co.
The FPL Group, the same company that owns Florida Power & Light, already operate a solar thermal plant but have projected that a large-scale photovoltaic facility will take a lot less time to build.
Assuming the new projects win regulatory approval, the DeSoto plant is scheduled to open next year, while the facility at the Kennedy Space Centre will be completed in 2010.
In light of these advancements, the question begs to be asked – Is Britain doing enough to make use of its energy resources?
It is by no means a coincidence that Florida (the Sunshine State) has chosen to use photovoltaic technology. There are not many other methods for producing renewable energy that would justify the construction of a large-scale power plant. So what is Britain to do?
It is true that UK is set to start building thousands of new wind turbines across the country and coastline over the coming decade as part of a £100bn plan to boost renewable energy. And this wind power expansion will contribute significantly to achieving the EU 2020 target.
But as UK are set to miss requirements, there is a dark feeling that by not capitalising on the developing technologies that the U.S. have discovered through PV Cell and solar power, Britain may fall behind other large-scale builders like Germany – who’s share of electricity from renewable energy has increased from 6.3 percent in 2000 to over 14 percent in 2007.
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Posted under Articles, Environmental News, Renewable Energy
This post was written by Ryan Whatley on July 16, 2008