Weekly Clean Energy Roundup:April 26, 2006

News and Events Arizona Completes a One-Megawatt Solar Trough Plant Air Force Plans for 18 Megawatts of Solar Power at Nevada Base Woody Biomass Projects Receive $4.2 Million in USDA Grants Nissan to Sell the Altima Hybrid in Only Eight States DOE Conducts Industrial Energy Assessments in Six States Energy Connections EIA: Regular Gasoline Prices May Fall Short of $3 per Gallon News and EventsArizona Completes a One-Megawatt Solar Trough PlantArizona Public Service Company (APS) commemorated Arizona’s first solar trough power plant on Earth Day, April 22nd. The one-megawatt plant features more than 100,000 square feet of trough-shaped mirrors, and is the first solar trough plant built in the United States in 17 years. Located between Phoenix and Tucson, the plant consists of six rows of mirrors, each more than 1,200 feet long. The mirrors concentrate the sun’s energy to heat oil, which is then used to vaporize an organic fluid. The vapor spins a turbine to drive a generator, producing power, and the vapor is then condensed and reused.Although existing solar trough systems boil water rather than an organic fluid, the organic fluid vaporizes at a lower temperature than water, allowing the plant to produce more power at lower […]

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