Elias (Lee) Stefanakos
University of South Florida, USA
Title: Energy storage and solar power plants for a sustainable energy future
Biography
Biography: Elias (Lee) Stefanakos
Abstract
A sustainable energy future could be secured by the use of a mixture of renewable and conventional energy sources. The timeline for achieving such a secure and sustainable energy future is difficult to project, however, in the mix of these energies, solar power plants with energy storage will certainly play a very significant role. In this presentation, a brief overview of photovoltaic (PV) and concentrated solar thermal (CSP) power plants as well as energy storage will be given. A number of factors will determine the widespread utilization of solar power, such as available solar radiation (location) and cost. Electrochemical and thermal energy storage will play a big role in the process of mitigating the problem of solar energy intermittency. The present technologies, costs and projected costs of PV and CSP power plants and energy storage will be presented.