Australia is one of the world’s three best locations for concentrating solar power. The other two are the southwestern United States and the Sahara Desert in North Africa.
Solar Tower
Solar Dish
Solar Trough
Australia, North Africa and the southwestern United States are the world’s best locations for concentrating solar power
The energy potential of concentrating solar power is vast. An Outback area 50 kilometers on a side covered with concentrating solar power mirrors could satisfy ALL of Australia’s electricity demand. A hypothetical mirror field 1,200 kilometers on a side could satisfy ALL the world’s energy demand.
The graphic below shows the approximate hypothetical mirror sizes needed to satisfy various country and regional energy demands. For perspective’s sake, the outline of the Woomera Prohibited Area is included. If covered with mirrors, the underutilised military facility could power the United States or China.
Northern South Australia is ideally situated for exploiting concentrating solar power
Because concentrating solar power is such a vast resource, when it gets deployed, it has a big impact. In the United States for instance, rollout of large CSP plants in the desert west of the country means that the United States now has more concentrating solar power capacity than it has in solar photovoltaics. It is likely to stay that way. Concentrating solar power is large scale. Solar photovoltaics is, generally speaking by comparison, small scale.
“Concentrating Solar Power and Decentralized PV Power,” Farrell, 2008
Parabolic Troughs Dominate
Within the concentrating solar power industry, parabolic troughs dominate. They are the most advanced, commercially proven of the CSP technologies.
Parabolic troughs are the most common form of concentrating solar power
Source: Emerging Energy Research
Australia is Ideal for Concentrating Solar Power
Below are graphics throwing the three most promising areas of the world for concentrating solar power: the southwestern United States, Australia and southern Spain/North Africa. Most concentrating solar power development to date has occurred in southern California, the birthplace of the industry.
In the graphic below, 100-kilometer-on-a-side square false-color blocks are superimposed over the southwestern United States, with orange representing six kilowatthours per day of solar energy per square meter, followed by light pink at 6.5 and darker pink at seven. Virtually all concentrating solar power plants developed or planned in the region are in the zone of six kwh/m solar potential.
In most of California where CSP plants have been built, direct normal radiation has been around six kilowatthours per day per meter
Source: NASA
In Australia, similar 6 kwh/m/day solar readings occur in interior New South Wales, with even stronger resources located in western Queensland and northern South Australia.
Interior Australia offers strong direct normal radiation
Source: NASA
Spain has the smallest potential of the three. It has strong solar resources only in a small southern region. But commercial development of concentrating solar power has been active in the region due to European Union financial support.
Spain’s strong resources are limited to the southeast of the country.
Source: NASA