The Modular Solution
In terms of the modular approach to manufacturing, Heliogen could be the TerraPower of the concentrating solar power field, only with a much greater chance of bringing its modular business model to market.The main bottom line issue with both nuclear and concentrating solar power is that costs are higher when each project depends on site-specific tailoring. If modular components can manufactured in quantity at a central location and shipped out, costs should drop significantly.
For concentrating solar, that opens up the potential for co-locating solar operations with industrial facilities, and that is what Heliogen appears to have in mind.
Heliogen first crossed the CleanTechnica radar back in 2019, when it burst out of stealth mode.
“While TerraPower has been pitching nukes, the Heliogen research team has been hammering away in deepest secrecy at its research facility in Lancaster, California, with the aim of developing a concentrating solar power system that can deliver temperatures of more than 1,000 degrees Celsius,” we observed. “Reading between the lines of Heliogen’s first ever press release, that puts the new solar system in direct competition with fossil fuels for high-heat industrial processes including cement and steel production.”
It's A New Dawn For Concentrating Solar Power
The concentrating solar power dream lives on, with high tech manufacturing and a new electric vehicle battery angle, too.
cleantechnica.com
