The Sun has some amazing aspects about it, right from being 4.6 billion years old to when comparing it to the Earth, it is 330,000 times massive; the distance between Sun and Earth varies between 147 to 152 million kilometers and did you know that the average energy given out by Sun over the entire earth in 24 hours is about 84 Terrawatts of Power (the world only uses about 12 Terrawatts) or knowing that light from the sun takes 8 minutes and 20 seconds to reach Earth, and many such facts about the sun make us totally awe-inspired.
Being in an industry that relies on the power harnessed from the sun, we here at Solenergy, the Philippines’ solar power provider, would like to share below some of the most extraordinary Solar projects across the globe. Get ready for some exciting flare about the brightest celestial body for our earth’s utilitarian needs.
Crescent Dunes Solar Energy Project
Putting to use Nevada’s national public lands, just outside the town of Tonopah, this solar thermal power project produces 110 net megawatts of solar energy. It uses 10,347 heliostats to focus and collect the Sun’s thermal energy and heat the molten salt flowing through 640 foot solar power tower.
Then the molten salt circulates to a storage tank, where it is used for producing steam and generates electricity. With excess energy stored in molten salt, it also has a backup of 10 hours and the plant is completely self-sufficient. The planet construction started back in 2011 and got completed in 2014 at a cost of close to 1 billion. The solar plant’s planned output is 500 GW. The project is one of its kind utility scale CSP (concentrating solar power) for all of us to see the power and scope of solar energy across the world.
Solar Powered Bike Path for Riders in Dutch City
Called the SolaRoad in the city of Krommenie, Netherlands, we have a literal solar bike path having solar cells to generate electricity. The town includes the village and the nearby countryside and has a population of just 17,410. This is one of its kind solar projects that have proven to be quiet successful with over 3000 KW-hours of electricity already being generated (that is enough to meet the needs of a household for a year there). The solar path is 250 feet (0.0762 Kilometers) and it has already been used by approx. 150,000 riders in just six months of its inception.
Solar Powered Helicopter Solar Impulse 2 becomes First Ever Craft to Circumnavigate around the World using Solar Energy Only
The epic feat of Solar Impulse 2 started with Solar Impulse 1 back in 2003, and finally after completing the entire stages of testing/prototype construction/manned test flights, the Solar Impulse 2 undertook its first flight in 2014 and completed its circumnavigation around the Earth (a distance of 42,438 km) in seventeen stages over 16 months and ½ months. This single seat aircraft deployed 11,628 photovoltaic cells (on the wing area) rated at 45 kW peak: 200 m2 (2,200 sq ft) and a power plant comprising of 4 × electric motors, 4 x 41 kWh lithium-ion batteries (633 kg), providing 13 kW [32] (17.4 hp) each. Solar Impulse is the only craft in the world to have performed this epic journey using only renewable and sustainable energy.
Vanguard 1 was the First Solar Powered Satellite to Orbit around the Earth back in 1958
This was the fourth artificial spacecraft but the only one powered by solar energy to orbit the earth. It transmitted signals for over 7 years after which connection with it got lost in 1964. Solar energy can literally power even space capsules and technically anything that requires power!
Australia has their very Own Solar Powered Bus named Tindo (Kaurna the aboriginal’s language meaning Sun) capable of riding approx. 200 KM between charges and carry 27 seated passengers
Imagine sitting in a bus that is 100% powered by solar energy? Yes, it has been made possible in the southern Australian city of Adelaide, which has made available the worlds’ first solar bus in their city. The bus doesn’t have any solar panels installed on its roof; rather it uses solar energy to recharge its batteries each day.
The Adelaide Central Bus Station has installed a large grid connected system with 320 solar panels, eight inverters and a weather station that measures the sunlight, temperature and wind speed for generating their very own electricity from solar power. The city has received world recognition and local applaud for their pioneering efforts around solar power energy generation and encouraging others to follow suit.
Solar Hourglass Solar Project Equivalent to also as an Art Project
In the city of Copenhagen, the capital city of Denmark has plans to build a solar Hourglass just near the Little Mermaid Statue which will be generating electricity using solar power. The project is a unique and ambitious one with two inverted tapering-components that would be connected through a svelte ‘neck’ at the middle and will be using heliostat mirrors to amplify collected energy from the sun.
There are many other such forward thinking solar energy projects taking shape currently around the world such as the Emotions by Antonio Macca and Flavio Masi, Solar towers of the Ivanpah facility, the world’s largest solar thermal power station in the Mojave Desert, southeastern California; floating solar power plant on Yamakura Dam reservoir in Japan and other many excellent solar projects.
If you are looking to utilize solar energy in the Philippines, then contact us at Solenergy for any of your pioneering projects. As one of the most renowned solar companies in the Philippines, our team of experts will be able to review and offer full system design and construction which includes project costing such as solar panel prices and system O&M services. We aim to provide innovative energy solutions that would also inspire more solar power facilities around the world.
