Using solar and wind to produce power from steam as needed?
How practical would it be to store near boiling hot water - kept hot from solar and wind - and use small amounts of grid electricity to produce steam from this on demand .
This steam could drive a steam turbine to produce green power for the grid- and supply power at high demand periods - at a profit!
This would simplify linking multiple wind turbines and solar panels- and the hot water could still be utilised for showers and hydrothermal home heating.
Collecting solar energy and producing steam to drive turbine generators is a good idea. There have been many experimental plants doing this over the years. There have also been many experiments done on the best medium to use for storing the heat during the night. My understanding is that the most favorable system at this point in time is using a large array of parabolic mirrors focused on a collector which has a salt slurry or other solution which circulates to a boiler to produce the steam. I followed one test plant in the 70's, and it worked, but finding a good heat absorbing medium that would not corrode the pipes and boiler was the biggest problem. Maybe they have resolved that now. I also understand there are some large scale plants now in service and more planned.
Wind turbines are another matter. They are passive in that they (the wind generator) just turns when the wind blows over about 8MPH and produce electricity directly.
Both are great sources of power, but also both depend on nature and weather cycles. Sometimes the wind doesn't blow and the sun doesn't shine. Many areas of the world are not well suited for these forms of power, and there is a limit to how far you can transport power over wires, so other more reliable sources will also be required for the 24/7 reliability we require.
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home made wind turbine
