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Largest Solar Thermal Power Plant Goes Online
Schott announced that with the connection of the Nevada Solar One power plant
to the grid, its solar receivers officially began collecting solar radiation
needed to generate clean energy for Nevada homes.
 An employee checks the quality of solar receivers during the inauguration of the most modern production plant for solar receivers worldwide. Receivers are a key component of the solar thermal parabolic trough power plants, which will become an important source of power in the future.
Built by Acciona Solar Power, the 64 MW solar thermal power plant covers
400 acres. Schott supplies 11,136 of the 18,240 receivers being used by Nevada
Solar
One. Nevada Solar One will generate up to 134 million kW hours of electricity
per year, enough energy to power more than 15,000 U.S. households annually.
Electricity generated by the Nevada Solar One power plant will be sold to
Nevada Power Company and Sierra Pacific Power Company under long-term power
purchase
agreements (PPAs).
“
We are convinced that parabolic trough power plants are on their way to achieving
a global breakthrough, thanks to Nevada Solar One. The technology has already
proven itself and the costs of generating electricity will soon be competitive.
Parabolic trough power plants offer immense potential for generating power in
an environmentally compatible and climate friendly manner. We are pleased that
we have contributed the key component of this high-potential technology with
our state-of-the-art receivers,” said Professor Dr. Udo Ungeheuer, Chairman
of the Board of Management of Schott.
 Solar receivers from Schott represent the key components of so-called parabolic trough power plants. These receivers convert the solar energy that is captured by parabolic mirrors into heat and supply this via heat exchangers to turbines that generate electricity.
The Nevada Solar One power plant uses parabolic mirrors to concentrate solar
radiation onto receivers, the majority of which are Schott PTR 70 solar receivers.
This solar radiation increases the temperature of the thermo-oil Heat Transfer
Fluid (HTF) flowing through the receivers. This heated fluid is then used to
turn water into steam, which drives a turbine and generates electricity.
The use of solar thermal power to produce electricity at Nevada Solar One
rather than fossil fuels is equivalent to eliminating the CO2 emissions from
approximately
20,000 cars on America’s roads.
Because it reduces U.S. dependency on fossil fuels to generate electricity,
solar thermal power could potentially be a major source of renewable energy
for the
southwestern United States and sun-belt areas around the world.
 The receiver from Schott has already proven itself as a part of a string of collectors at a parabolic trough power plant in California.
“
Resource calculations show that just seven states in the U.S. southwest could
provide more than 7 million MW of solar generating capacity - roughly 10 times
the total U.S. generating capacity from all sources today,” according
to a report from the Center for American Progress and Worldwide Institute.
The report also states that the parabolic trough solar thermal technology
used at Nevada Solar One “provides the best performance and lowest cost of
all types of solar power plants.”
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