HelioFocus harnesses the power of wind and sun for electricity

HelioFocus is taking solar thermal energy one step further — by adding wind. The system, described in a profile on Greentech Media, is a six-story high dish (not unlike the mirrored dishes used in other solar thermal arrays, only massive), that beams highly-concentrated sunlight into a receiver. That receiver, in turn, heats a batch of air to nearly 2,000 degrees Fahrenheit, then shoots it through a gas turbine (the basis of jet engines).

At least, that’s the concept. Still in development, the prototype has achieved heats of 1,600 degrees. But it has a lot of promise from an economic standpoint. Not only would such a system be cheaper to run, it would also be much more compact, lowering real estate expenses by more than half. It is also reportedly fairly efficient, with conversion rates of 20 percent from sunlight to energy — pretty decent for solar. And Musea Ventures and Israel Green Corp. seem to believe in its potential, investing $20 million last year.

HelioFocus says it plans to sell its dishes, which are the priciest part of the structure by far, to other power plants, including solar thermal plants and steam plants.

The system is not the core of HelioFocus’ business. Previously it specialized in traditional solar thermal equipment, as well as modular, turn-key equipment for coal-fired and combined cycle plants. So far, its strategy has been to sell its technology to plants on the 25-megawatt scale for small utility uses. It hopes to eventually scale up to 100-megawatt plants. The company, based in Israel, says its products are well-suited to hybrid plants depending on natural gas, fossil fuel sources, solar thermal and steam.

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