11 Solar Thermal Companies Powering Up
California’s Mojave desert sure is getting crowded as more and more companies are raising money in an effort to build large solar power plants to harness the sun’s heat. Yesterday, eSolar said it had raised a massive $130 million from the likes of Google and Idealab for its small-scale solar thermal designs, while Stirling also said it had raised $100M from Irish renewable energy developer NTR for its SunCatcher solar thermal dishes. And this morning Infinia, which makes Stirling engines for solar thermal, said it had raised $57 million in a second round of funding.
Is there really enough room for these three, plus five other startups and three large renewable energy players? There are 2.5GW of solar thermal projects with announced power purchase agreements in California and Arizona slated for construction in the next few years, according to Nat Bullard, an analyst at New Energy Finance. Here’s a rundown of the solar thermal players making land and sun grabs in the Southwest.
eSolar: With a fresh $130 million from Google, Idealab and Oak, eSolar says it has “secured land rights” in the southwestern United States to produce over 1 GW of power and will have a power plant up and running later this year in southern California. The company uses a central power tower surrounded by smaller-than-usual heliostats, allowing the company to build 25 MW clusters.
Ausra: Ausra has attracted a lot of media attention for both its rapid expansion from Australia to the States and its big name investors, Khosla and Kleiner, who’ve invested $70 million — and Ausra is already looking for $150 million in Series C. Ausra’s Compact Linear Fresnel Reflector technology uses cheap, flat mirrors to heat tubes of water. The startup has plans for a manufacturing facility near Las Vegas and has signed a power purchase agreement with PG&E for 177 MW from Ausra’s farm in San Luis Obispo County, Calif.
Stirling Energy Systems: Stirling has two large pending projects. Solar One in the Mojave Desert will have 500 MW of capacity, with the option to expand to 850 MW while Solar Two, sited in the Imperial Valley near El Centro, Calif., will have 300 MW of capacity with the option to expand up to 900 MW. Each site is contracted for a 20-year power purchase agreement with Southern California Edison and San Diego Gas & Electric, respectively. It also just raised a whopping $100 million from NTR plc.
Infinia: With 25 years of Stirling engine experience, Infinia has a gaggle of A-list backers including Vinod Khosla’s Khosla Ventures, Bill Gross’ Idealab and Paul Allen’s Vulcan Capital; it’s raised $66.5 million to date. Infinia’s technology is similar to Stirling’s and uses mirrored concentrator dishes to track the sun and reflect its rays into a highly efficient Stirling heat engine.
SolarReserve: Spun out from aerospace giant Hamilton Sundstrand, itself a subsidiary of United Technologies Corp., SolarReserve is one of the most recent entrants. Its technology, developed by rocket maker Rocketdyne, uses molten salt to store energy and produce power round the clock. SolarReserve plans to have its first solar plant online by the end of 2010. SolarReserve has not disclosed any outside investors or funding but is working with DOE money.
Solel: With a massive $105 million investment from Ecofin, Solel has recently announced a plans for a $140 million construction facility in Spain. The company has an agreement with PG&E for 553 MW from Solel’s Mojave Solar Park which uses parabolic trough technology and is scheduled for completion in 2011. Solel’s parabolic trough technology has been around for decades and has been used in test plants for 20 years.
BrightSource: Based in Oakland, Calif., BrightSource just signed a massive deal wit PG&E for 500 MW of solar thermal power with option for another 400 MW (totally 900 MW). BrightSource, with its Israeli subsidiary, has an impressive list of investors — VantagePoint Venture Partners, Morgan Stanley, Draper Fisher Jurvetson, J.P. Morgan, and Chevron Technology Ventures — but has announced less than $50 million in funding. BrightSource’s technology uses a central power tower surrounded by heliostats in what it calls “solar power clusters,” each of which can produce 100 MW of energy.
SkyFuel: Using parabolic-trough technology, SkyFuel says its secret lies in its cheap “ReflecTech” mirrored lining, which it says is stronger and cheaper than glass and mirrors. We’re still waiting to hear about SkyFuel’s projects, but last we heard G.C. Andersen Partners was leading a second round of financing for the Albuquerque, N.M.-based startup.
Abengoa Solar: Part of Spanish renewable energy giant Abengoa, this solar subsidiary has signed on to provide 280 MW of solar thermal power to Arizona Public Service from a plant near Gila Bend, Ariz., scheduled for completion in 2011.
FPL Energy: FPL has just filed for a 250 MW plant in the Mojave with plans to scale it up to 850 MW by 2015. The plant, called the Beacon Solar Energy Project, will use parabolic-trough technology. FPL, along with Carlyle and Sunray, also have a 354 MW Solar Energy Generating Systems plant. FPL operates natural gas, wind, solar, hydroelectric and nuclear power plants.
Acciona: Another Spanish renewable energy player, Acciona has a 64 MW plant called Nevada Solar One outside Las Vegas that was one of the first large-scale solar thermal plants in the United States.
Photo courtesy of Sandia National Laboratories.
At last, the oil barons are challenged by technology, sustainable, renewable technology. They will never be able to hold the progress of the U.S. economy ransom again thanks to science and good old American know-how!
Really great article! In-Depth, articulate, and just in time for Earth Day!
This does seem to give a ray (pun intended) of hope… Now, if the price of oil would just climb a little higher… preferably with the HELP of the government, not despite their interventions.
Gas tax!
[...] No Comments Posted April 24th, 2008 at 12:00 am in Energy The biggest barrier to building all these solar thermal power plants in the Mojave desert is, unsurprisingly, cost. At this week’s Fortune Green conference the CEO of California [...]
[...] the sun??s heat. Yesterday, eSolar said it had raised a massive 130 million from the likes of Ghttp://earth2tech.com/2008/04/22/11-solar-thermal-companies-powering-up/Think Small, City Drivers ForbesVenture firms charge up electric car project with new injection of [...]
[...] worried that municipal power will put you out of business while PG&E outflanks you by buying up those solar thermal plants in the Mojave, Roscheisen invites you on a solar Euro trip fact finding mission to Germany, land of bratwurst and [...]
[...] are not the only companies trying to get set up in the [...]
[...] 11 Solar Thermal Companies Powering Up: Real estate in the Mojave desert is getting gobbled up quickly as startups and utilities alike flock to the sunny sands to setup multi-100 megawatt solar thermal plants. Check out all the major players and their plans. [...]
[...] April 29th, 2008 at 12:00 am in Startups While solar thermal companies eSolar and Stirling both announced funding in the 9-digits last week, another startup using the sun’s heat to create energy disclosed a more modest round this [...]
[...] new funding continues to heat up the solar thermal race in the deserts of the Southwest, where at least 11 companies are all working to secure land rights, sign power purchase agreements and lobby for new transmission lines to get [...]
[...] Google has only announced three investments in alternative energy companies. Two of them have been into companies using solar thermal technology, which uses mirrors to turn liquid into steam that drives a turbine, lending support to a burgeoning but unproven industry. [...]
[...] No Comments Posted May 20th, 2008 at 10:06 am in Startups While Solel is still working to deliver 553 megawatts of solar thermal power to PG&E in the American Southwest, the Israeli startup is expanding its sales in Spain. Solel today [...]
[...] Solel is still working to deliver 553 megawatts of solar thermal potential to PG&E in the American Southwest, the Israeli startup is expanding its sales in Spain. Solel today [...]
[...] are over a dozen companies building solar thermal plants in California’s deserts; these plants will use lenses and [...]
[...] 11 Solar Thermal Companies Powering Up SunPower CEO: No U.S. Solar Incentives? No Solar For You [...]
[...] added biofuels generation also sounds like a system that can be easily copied. If it works, those 11 solar thermal companies building plants in the desert should follow [...]
[...] generation additionally sounds like a system that can be easily copied. whether it works, those 11 solar thermal companies building plants in the desert should follow [...]
[...] by Katie Fehrenbacher No Comments Posted June 27th, 2008 at 10:00 am in Energy The hoard of companies rushing to build solar power plants in the U.S. deserts has one big hang-up — there’s just too many of them. This has led [...]
[...] 8 startups have proposed plans to use the desert land for creating small to medium capacity solar power plants.The federal government has now placed a has placed a moratorium on new solar projects on [...]
[...] Dozens of companies are rushing to build solar thermal power plants, which use the sun’s heat to boil liquid and produce steam that powers a turbine, in U.S. deserts. Check out our list of solar thermal companies that will likely bid on New Mexico’s proposal. (11 Solar Thermal Companies Powering Up). [...]
[...] Written by Katie Fehrenbacher No Comments Posted July 13th, 2008 at 9:00 pm in Energy With so many venture-backed startups looking to build solar thermal power plants in the U.S. desert, we thought it would be interesting [...]
As moderator of EnergyTalk LIVE at BTR; hosted by AlternativeEnergy.com site, I would like to find reps from these companies to support putting energytalk in every school or community center in every region.
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[...] is just one of more than a dozen companies building solar plants in the deserts that use the sun’s heat to generate power; the plants will [...]
[...] is just one of more than a dozen companies building solar plants in the deserts that use the sun’s heat to generate power; the plants will [...]
[...] is just one of more than a dozen companies building solar plants in the deserts that use the sun’s heat to generate power; the plantsuse [...]
[...] there’s so many competing solar thermal companies out there right now (see our list 11 Solar Thermal Companies Powering Up). In fact SkyFuel is making a lot of strong statements, trying to make a splash, considering they [...]
We hope that all the solar companies convert to Germanium, and other metals which was just discovered to have a 46% rating to convert solar to electricity. Silicon, Tellerium,Indium, Gallium, ect have only a 20 to 22 % efficiency. Texas Copper LLC, our Company has just discovered the largest Germanium deposit possible in the world, The assay is 200 PPM Germanium, There is no Copper, Lead or Zinc in this material. all of the other Minerals, Major minerals we can sell and make a profit without the Germanium.in 3 Years we can be producing 75 to 100 tons of Germanium per year. so there will never be a shortage of Germanium.We will be registered with the Texas secetary of state within a week or two. If you need all the Germanium you waunt, get in touch.
Dear Mr.David Tan
We have agreement contract of Province Electricity goverment of Thailand for suply power
to electricity of Nakornratchasima province. The our projects need solar ennergy 1 MW/H
per 1 plant. We contacting with PEA goverment of Thailand 2 project this year.
If you have investment project in Thailand. Please coferm me by e-mail and msn and recieve
details of solar energy technology,pricelist and description of investment project.
I wonder if the UK will have a bigger initiative on using solar power. Makes such sound sense to let private individuals along with such companies making an effort to provide such alternative energy to people.
I’d advocate self generation but that would mean a company selling knowledge and equipment rather than becoming an energy solution for an area. :)
I wonder how these companies will do during the credit crisis? :S
[...] companies heavily invested in green technologies and industries, such as wind farms, solar, and solar thermal (big energy, small footprint so far). Ironically, many of the bigger companies are based overseas. [...]
We propose to set up 2Mw Solar power plant in western India.Enough land is available.
Please let us know requirement of land/ Mw and cost per Mw as well as names of technology suppliers.
Please reply
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[...] plants are cropping up all over. Earth2tech reports, “11 Solar Thermal Companies Powering Up“: There are 2.5GW of solar thermal projects with announced power purchase agreements in [...]
[...] plants are cropping up all over. Earth2tech reports, “11 Solar Thermal Companies Powering Up“: There are 2.5GW of solar thermal projects with announced power purchase agreements in [...]