The conference comes just weeks after Solar Trust of America announced that it is forming to form a joint venture with leading PV developer SolarHybrid AG -- the largest shift yet by a CSP developer towards more trusted PV, according to CSP Today a leading business intelligence firm for the concentrated solar thermal power sector.
The three main attributes that utilities and its customers want in a power source are competitive energy cost, ancillary services that support the power grid, and delivery upon demand. Current energy markets have placed the greatest focus on energy cost from intermittent renewables.
Concentrated solar power's cost has been, fairly or unfairly, priced as an intermittent energy source, because of an enduring scepticism about solar's ability to deliver uninterrupted power, on demand, CSP Today said.
But, the firm pointed out in a written statement announcing the Las Vegas event, CSP can provide some ancillary services and, with large-scale storage, power on demand.
Is it being priced out of the market?
That appears to be the contention of at least some of those who will be playing key roles at the conference.
“Unless CSP can truly deliver cost-competitive storage and sell the associated ancillary and dispatch services, it will have a very hard time competing with PV on energy price, where currently all the attention is,” said Arnold Leitner, founder of SkyFuel and ALNP. “To be blunt, energy from CSP is currently simply being priced out of the market.”
Arnold Leitner, who is the moderator for the CSP vs PV session in the agenda at CSP TODAY USA 2011 reckons that the size factor for plants also works against CSP, which is restricted by available locations that can house a 250 MW utility-scale plants and have a market for that much power.
“With electricity demand dramatically down and barely recovering in the American West, there's just not enough growth to absorb this added capacity being offered,” he said.
Challenges around water for cooling CSP, the speed at which a PV plant can be built compared to CSP, and PV's proven technology are all reasons investors may trust a PV bet over one on CSP.
“Price matters. Solar panel prices have fallen by more than 40% in the last 2 years alone and panel makers claim their prices will drop further by a comparable amount. Show me a CSP company today that dares to forecast such cost reductions,” Leitner said. “There's no point in denying these realities, because they are indeed the acting drivers, they do influence decisions, and some projects are being converted from CSP to PV.”
Uwe T. Schmidt, CEO of STA and a speaker at the event, said his company will fully explore hybrid solutions on future sites.
“Topography requirements for PV are different from CSP requirements, and one can go to somewhat smaller real estate that's closer to population bases with PV than with CSP,” he said.
“There's (unused) property on our CSP (sites) where we think we could place PV panels,” Schmidt added.
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