Technology

BrightSource Energy’s proprietary Luz Power Tower (LPT) 550 energy system is based on proven power tower technology and is designed to offer the highest operating efficiencies and lowest capital costs in the industry.

BrightSource Energy’s decision to use a power tower design stems from its engineering team’s experience designing and building the nine Solar Electric Generating Stations (SEGS) in California between 1984 and 1990. These nine plants still represent more than 80 percent of the commercial solar thermal energy produced in the U.S. today. While built durably, the SEGS plants’ trough technology has efficiency and cost limitations that are solved during the evolution to the LPT system. The benefits of the LPT design include:

• More efficient production of steam from solar radiation due to two-axis tracking
• More efficient generation of electricity from steam due to higher temperature steam production
• Less ‘parasitic’ energy usage for plant operation due to reduced movement of thermal mass
• Higher capacity factor – more megawatt hours produced per megawatt of installed power equipment
• Lower capital costs due to commodity-based inputs, no concrete foundations, and fewer pipes and cabling
• Less water usage

The result is a large-scale solar system that reliably delivers solar energy at a cost competitive with fossil fuels.