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Solar Updraft Towers

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Encyclopedia of Sustainability Science and Technology

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Definition of the Subject and Its Importance

Electricity generation based on renewable energy is of utmost importance to replace power generation using fossil fuels, as the latter is damaging the environment and exhaustible [1, 2]. Solar energy as a resource is abundant. Several technological options exist to utilize solar radiation. Solar Updraft Towers (SUTs) are one of them. They work on a simple well-known principle: Hot air rises. To make use of this simple physical fact for power generation, air is heated by the sun under a large translucent roof (greenhouse effect ). The heated air is then sucked in by a central vertical cylindrical tube (chimney effect ). The updraft wind, thus created, drives turbines with generators and so generates electricity. The principle has been proven by building and successfully operating a prototype in Spain for 7 years.

Introduction

Current electricity production from coal, oil, and natural gas is damaging the environment; it is nonsustainable, and...

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Abbreviations

Greenhouse:

Large translucent solar collector roof under which air is heated by solar radiation.

Solar updraft tower (SUT):

Solar Power Plant where ambient air is heated in a greenhouse and rises in a centrally installed tower tube. This convective flow drives one or more turbines to generate electricity.

Solar energy utilization:

Conversion of the electromagnetic radiation from the sun into usable energy, mostly heat, electricity, or chemically stored energy.

Levelized electricity cost (LEC):

LEC is an economic assessment of the cost of an energy-generating system including all the costs over its lifetime: initial investment, operations and maintenance, cost of fuel, and cost of capital. The LEC is the minimum price at which energy must be sold for an energy project to break even.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Schlaich Bergermann Solar GmbH, Stuttgart, Germany

    Dr. Gerhard Weinrebe, Rudolf Bergermann & Jörg Schlaich

Authors
  1. Dr. Gerhard Weinrebe
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  2. Rudolf Bergermann
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  3. Jörg Schlaich
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Gerhard Weinrebe .

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Editors and Affiliations

  1. RAMTECH LIMITED, Larkspur, CA, USA

    Robert A. Meyers

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Weinrebe, G., Bergermann, R., Schlaich, J. (2012). Solar Updraft Towers . In: Meyers, R.A. (eds) Encyclopedia of Sustainability Science and Technology. Springer, New York, NY. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4419-0851-3_682

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