Can hybrid solar provide nonstop electricity?Tue Feb 17, 2009 3:37pm GMT
By Ari Rabinovitch
KIBBUTZ SAMAR, Israel (Reuters) - Israeli energy company AORA wants to prove it doesn't have to be sunny for a solar power plant to make electricity. Like weaning a car from total dependence on fuel, the answer, it says, is to go hybrid.
Their idea is to combine traditional fuel such as biomass or diesel with low-carbon solar power, during daylight, to generate uninterrupted electricity.
AORA is constructing its first hybrid solar power station on a half-acre (0.2 hectare) plot in Israel's Negev desert, where companies are competing to create more efficient technologies and tap into the multi-billion dollar clean energy market.
It will be online next month, producing 100 kilowatts, enough energy to power about 40 houses, said Pinchas Doron, AORA's chief technology officer.
http://uk.reuters.com/article/environmentNews/idUKTRE51G3T420090217