Solar Pilot Set for Boulder

Saturday, 24 July 2010 15:57

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Cool Energy has announced that Xcel Energy will provide research and analytical support for the first planned pilot field installation of the SolarFlow System in a Boulder, Colorado, commercial building. Designed for residential and small commercial buildings, the SolarFlow System is a combined heat and power (CHP) generation system that uses solar energy as its only input fuel. Features include energy storage and a control system that optimally apportions the system’s energy output between heat and electricity depending current weather conditions. Integral to the system is Cool Energy’s SolarHeart Engine which the system activates whenever the electricity produced is more valuable than the heat consumed.

Cool Energy CEO and President, Sam Weaver, says, “We are pleased to have Xcel Energy’s interest in and support for the SolarFlow System pilot. Having such features as thermal storage and smart grid-compatible control of the energy produced, a significant scale deployment of the system has the potential for improving a utility’s overall operational efficiency. The system will not only provide substantial financial relief for homeowners, but also offset the need for utilities to add more generation facilities that are particularly costly during peak consumption periods.”

Dennis Stephens, Xcel’s director of smart grid investments says the utility “is pleased to be involved in the benefits evaluation of Cool Energy’s innovative solar thermal system. The energy industry is particularly interested in the potential to provide dispatchable power on demand at times when energy consumption is high. Cool Energy is developing innovative solutions for the energy challenges our nation is facing, including new technologies for providing power with minimal environmental impact.”

Cool Energy develops clean energy technology, such as the SolarHeart Engine, which the company describes as “”a low temperature Stirling engine for conversion of solar thermal energy and waste heat to electricity.”

More information is available at www.coolenergyinc.com