According to the Israeli company, the price of producing
a kilowatt hour of electricity in California using its
technology now stands at about 10 cents --that's on
a par with the cost of electricity at a newly constructed
gas plant, based on the current natural-gas prices.
When you factor in oil prices hovering above $60 a
barrel, Brenmiller now believes that the demand for
Solel's solar-thermal energy technology is about to
take off.
Solel uses a method known as solar trough, which
involves glass, parabolic-shaped collectors that are
placed in rows and track the sun's movement during
daylight hours. The collectors concentrate sunlight on
to steel pipes that contain a heat-transfer fluid. That
fluid is pumped through heat exchangers to generate
steam at temperatures up to 400 degrees Celsius,
which in turn powers a turbine to produce electricity.
The Israeli firm kept busy improving the efficiency of
the heart of its technology, its heat-collection element.
The investors have ponied up over $30 million over
the past decade. The new generation of collectors is
50% more efficient. "Within five years, we'll bring the
price of producing electricity down to 6 cents to 7 cents
per kilowatt hour," predicts Brenmiller. At that price, he
believes solar thermal energy could change the entire
energy picture in many regions around the world.
In the past few months Solel has witnessed a surge in
interest in its technology. On Jan. 10, it announced a
$12 million deal to supply solar collectors for a power
plant being built by Solargenix Energy in Boulder City,
Nevada. The 64-Mw facility is the largest solar project
in the past decade.
The Israeli company is also in negotiations for large-
scale projects in California, Spain, and Israel. California
is seen as a key market for the company as by
law renewable energy must account for 17% of all
electricity in the state by 2017
Brenmiller foresees tremendous potential in other
Sunbelt states like Nevada, Arizona, New Mexico,
and Texas, where there's growing interest in solar
technology.
Solel is also eyeing Spain, where the government has
announced one of Europe's most ambitious renewable-
energy programs. Brenmiller says he hopes to close
several deals in the next few months. Under a new
law that went into effect last year, Spain is subsidizing
electricity produced at new alternative-energy plants.
Back in Israel, the National Infrastructure Ministry has
approved plans for a 100-Mw solar-power plant at
Ashalim in the southern Negev Desert. A recent study
found that Israel could produce 2,500 Mw -- or nearly
a quarter of its current demand --from solar energy
by 2025.
Solel expects the increased interest in its technology to
lead to an eight-fold rise in revenues, to $30 million this
year, and more than $100 million in 2007. It's already
in the process of hiring dozens of new engineers to
meet the growing demand.
Solel has set up subsidiaries in the U.S. and Spain but
hopes to keep research and development at its Israeli
facility.
Moreover, there are plans for an IPO in 2007 if the
company's upbeat projections come to fruition.
So far, Solel has the market largely to itself as it has
the only proven solar thermal technology currently
available. However, Germany's Schott AG, which until
recently supplied the Israeli company with the high-
quality specialized glass used for the collectors, is
planning to enter the field. Other companies are also
said to be developing similar technology.
Solar energy in general
and Solel in particular
have long depended on
legislation that grants tax
credits for electricity from
renewable sources. California and other states have
passed laws that require a higher portion of electricity
to come from alternative-energy sources. But it's not
just increased attention from the U.S. government
to alternative forms of energy that has made Avi
Brenmiller, , chief executive of Israel's Solel, upbeat.
"Our technology is already competitive with electricity
produced at natural-gas power plants in California,"
claims the mechanical engineer.