SHEC Energy, the Canada based company that develops concentrated solar thermal systems, has announced it has achieved a 89% cost reduction in its Concentrated Solar Power system.
"A government granting organization recently completed a month long technical due diligence of SHEC Energy’s new Ultra Lite solar technology, demonstrating a materials cost reduction of 89% over its previous generation technology", the company says. SHEC estimated over a year ago that it may be able to reduce solar collection costs by 75%. However, the labor component of the manufactured product is not known until the production line is complete, the company expects similar saving in labor.
SHEC Energy has developed a Concentrating Solar Power (CSP) and thermal energy storage technology to allow the production of renewable electricity 24 hours a day. The companu claims it will allow the production of renewable power at a cost that is competitive with fossil fuel power generation in much of the world.
SHEC Energy uses a thermal based energy storage medium. Tom Beck, CEO of SHEC Energy, said “When we undertook our technology development pathway analysis, we took into account sustainability. I don’t mean sustainability in terms of renewable energy, although our technology achieves this, but sustainability to grow the company long into the future. This means not running out of raw materials, like lithium. Part of our design criteria was to determine the abundance of materials available into the distant future to assure our sustainability and economic advantage. We have designed our system to use abundantly available materials long into the future, as a matter of fact, enough to power all of humanity long into the future.”
SHEC Energy has had a number of independent technology validations through its various technology developments. Some of these were by government granting agencies. A government just completed a one month long due diligence review on SHEC Energy’s technology. Beck said “When a government examines a company for a potential grant, they do an in-depth technical assessment. I find it a real pleasure working with the technical assessment teams. These are really smart people that understand the technology and its ramifications.” SHEC Energy has been awarded conditional grants from two such governments now, pending obtaining matching funds. Most, if not all, grants require matching funds and reimburse about 50% of the funds spent.
SHEC Energy has greatly reduced energy collection costs with unique product design and by inventing new manufacturing processes. Beck said “Our new technology largely cannot be manufactured by traditional manufacturing process, so we had to invent, design, and build the machines to produce the product. Our superior economics are achieved with a combination of technology and proprietary manufacturing know-how".
SHEC Energy’s technology has application beyond utility scale power generation. Power systems can be made small enough for towns but not individual homes. Other applications of the technology include process heating, absorption cooling, water distillation and enhanced oil recovery.
Beck said “We have the technology to become a predominant renewable energy company. The Power industry alone will double to 30 trillion watts over the next 40 years. That market is projected to generate $382 trillion in revenues over that timeframe. In addition to that is the non-power applications of the technology. Our vision is to change the world. Unlike the fossil fuel industry with its finite reserves that have a relatively short life cycle of a century or so, our technology can offer a long term clean energy solution to humanity’s energy needs far into the future, and do so cost effectively.”
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