Treating liquid effluent via evaporation has always
been a highly effective, robust and simple method compared to other more
conventional treatment systems. Governments are now turning to wastewater
treatment plants as a potential site for installing solar systems. A
1.15-megawatt (MW) photovoltaic (PV) system installed at a wastewater treatment
plant in the city of Dinuba, Calif. This was a joint partnership venture by
Chevron and Toiga Energy.
Chevron Energy Solutions did construction and
engineering. Tioga Energy financed the project and manage it. The company will
sell energy produced from this venture at a fixed price for a twenty-year
agreement. Tioga Energy is an expert in selling renewable energy under
long-term agreements to commercial, non-government organisations and
government. This agreement makes it possible for these institutions to avail
renewable energy with no upfront capital.
Although this energy source is generally associated
with the use of solar panels for direct conversion of solar radiation into
electricity, thermosolar energy is a technology that exploits solar energy with
a much greater yield. A thermosolar plant transforms the solar radiation it
receives into thermal energy, which can be used directly in industrial
processes that require heat, or also indirectly as an energy source of a
conventional thermodynamic cycle to generate electricity.
The city of Dinuba is happy to have a landmark of
solar energy that makes use of a wastewater treatment site. Tioga and Chevron
have also recently worked together on a solar project in Hawaii.
To maximize the absorption of the solar radiation and
minimize the losses due to emission or convection, several technologies have
been developed. Although the systems that produce a higher yield are
constructed with cylinder-parabolic collectors (CCPs), in recent years the use
of systems that use flat segmented mirrors according to the Fresnel approach
(Linear Fresnel Reflector – LFR) has grown in popularity. These systems, at the
cost of a loss of a certain amount of concentration an effectiveness,
nevertheless score points for simplicity, which means a reduction in costs.
Tioga has also played a leading role in developing the
‘Morris model’. This was a project done with the Morris County Improvement
Authority located in New Jersey. This new model makes it possible for
governments to issue low-interest bonds for financing renewable energy
projects. Partnering with a third-party investor provides leverage for federal
tax incentives.
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