Sunflower-type solar power generation

What is a solar sunflower?

A solar sunflower is not a normal sunflower. It is a unique design that combines both photovoltaic solar power and concentrated solar thermal power in one neat, aesthetic package. This solar sunflower, often located on a hill, has a massive total efficiency of around 80 percent.

What technology is behind the solar sunflower?

The Solar Sunflower is developed by Airlight/Dsolar for the reflectors and superstructure, and IBM provides the photovoltaics. The two constituent technologies of the Solar Sunflower—concentrated solar thermal power and photovoltaic solar power—are both well-known and understood.

What is the Sunflower Solar Project?

The Sunflower Solar Project is one of the first utility-scale solar projects to be constructed under a Build Transfer Agreement (“BTA”) in the United States". Recurrent Energy signed a BTA with Entergy Mississippi in 2018, designating the regulated utility to own the project when it reaches commercial operation in early 2022.

Who is sunflower electricity?

Our focus is on our members, who deliver electricity every day to thousands of Kansans at the end of the line. Sunflower was formed in 1957 by six distribution cooperatives serving in western Kansas. They created a company based on the cooperative business model that could provide wholesale generation and transmission services.

What is a sunflower system?

Credit: W. Skelton et al. Cell Rep. Phys. Sci. A prototype device dubbed the Sunflower system has pushed the bounds of high-efficiency solar-energy set-ups by converting more than 65% of the Sun’s energy it receives into electricity or heat 1.

How effective is a sunflower receiver?

Data show that the Sunflower Receiver is most effective in California, with an LCOH of -1.08 ¢/kWh, which indicates that the Sunflower Receiver completely covers the cost of heat production and then generates positive future cash flows from electricity production.