power technology and engineering founded 2007 headquarters burbank california united states key people john van scoter president & ceo bill gross founder website www.esolar.com esolar is a privately held company that develops concentrating solar power csp plant technology . the company was founded by the pasadena based business incubator idealab in 2007 as a developer of csp plant technology . the company aims to develop a low cost alternative to fossil fuels through a combination of small heliostats modular architecture and a high precision sun tracking system . contents 1 technology 1.1 heliostat design 1.2 sun tracking software 1.3 power tower and electricity generation 1.4 module 2 sierra suntower 3 performance data from us treasury dept. performance report and certification form 4 molten salt based solar plant 5 partnerships 5.1 nrg 5.2 penglai electric 5.3 ferrostaal 5.4 general electric 5.5 aalborg csp a s 6 recognition and awards 7 investors 8 management 9 see also 10 references 11 external links technology edit heliostat design edit esolar has designed heliostats that are smaller than the industry norm allowing for pre fabrication mass manufacturing and easy installation thereby reducing production and installation costs . esolar announced a new heliostat design referred to as scs5 during the 2013 solarpaces conference in las vegas nevada . scs5 offers a more simplified design and enhanced reliability to reduce total installed solar collector system cost by more than a third . 1 sun tracking software edit esolar has developed a sun tracking control system that is able to calibrate heliostats and monitor the performance of each heliostat within the field . tests have shown an unprecedented pointing accuracy and high thermal concentration ratios . citation power tower and electricity generation edit an array of heliostats reflect solar radiation to a tower mounted thermal receiver . in the direct steam configuration the concentrated solar energy boils water in the receiver to produce steam . the steam is piped to a steam turbine generator which converts the energy to electricity . the steam out of the turbine is condensed and pressurized back into the receiver . in the molten salt configuration the concentrated solar energy heats molten salt to store thermal energy for future use . 2 module edit esolar s field layout design is built around the concept of scalable modules . in the direct steam configuration each module comprises over 20 000 square meters 3 of heliostats arranged in two subfields north and south which track the sun and concentrate solar energy to the tower mounted receiver . the field layout is a simple regular design that eliminates precision surveying and ground penetration . in the molten salt configuration a hexagonal solar field consists of over 100 000 square meters of reflector area . 4 a 46 mw esolar power unit consists of sixteen heliostat fields and towers a single steam turbine generator set and a steam condenser with a typical footprint of approximately 100 hectares 250 acres . these basic 46 mw units are designed to be scaled up to fit specific power requirements . in the molten salt configuration 10 modules may be aggregated to build a 100mw 50 % capacity factor solar power plant . 5 plants of various electric output and capacity factor may be assembled through use or varying numbers of molten salt modules . 6 sierra suntower edit the sierra suntower power plant in lancaster california . main article sierra suntower in the summer of 2009 esolar unveiled the 5 mw sierra suntower plant a commercial facility in lancaster california that demonstrates the company s technology . sierra suntower is interconnected to the southern california edison sce grid and as of spring 2010 is the only commercial csp tower facility in north america . sierra suntower includes two esolar modules . 24 000 heliostats divided between four sub fields track the sun and focus its energy onto two tower mounted receivers . the focused heat converts feedwater piped to the receivers into superheated steam that drives a reconditioned 1947 ge turbine generator to produce electricity . the steam passes through a steam condenser reverts to water through cooling and the process repeats . during the 12 months of construction sierra suntower created over 300 temporary jobs . in operation the site employs 21 permanent employees . sierra suntower has been certified by the california energy commission as a renewable energy facility . power from the facility is sold under a power purchase agreement ppa with sce providing renewable energy for up to 4 000 homes . the 5 mw output from sierra suntower reduces co2 emissions by 7 000 tons per year an amount equivalent to planting 5 265 acres 21.31 km2 of trees removing 1 368 automobiles from the road or saving 650 000 gallons of gasoline . performance data from us treasury dept. performance report and certification form edit the esolar sierra suntower generated 539 mwh megawatt hour of electricity from august 1 2010 to july 31 2011 . a total of 539 mwh of gross electrical energy has been generated at sierra during the period aug 1 2010 and july 31 2011 . 7 this is approximately 12.6 % of the expected power generation of the initial estimate of 4270 mwh a dismal result . molten salt based solar plant edit esolar with its partner babcock & wilcox power generation group has been working on the design of a modular molten salt based concentrating solar power plant since 2010 . with the support from the u. s. department of energy the companies try to come up with a design for plants with flexibility of the sizes from 50 to 200 mw by replicating the basic module without a redesign . each module uses hexagonal heliostat field to reflect sunlight to the salt in tube external thermal receiver on top of the tower at the center . with many modules working together the receivers heat the 285 c cold salt input and return 565 c hot salt to centrally located storage . the hot salt will then be used in the generator system to generate electricity . the new system incorporates the experience from the sierra suntower which uses a babcock & wilcox s water based receiver and the finding from the solar two project . 8 partnerships edit nrg edit nrg energy inc. partnered with esolar in february 2009 to develop solar power plants with a total generation capacity of up to 500 mw at sites within california and across the southwestern united states . additionally nrg invested approximately 10 million for equity and associated development rights for three projects and a portfolio of ppas to develop build own and operate up to 11 esolar modular solar generating units at these sites . the development assets will use esolar s concentrating solar power csp technology to sell renewable electricity under contracted ppas with local utilities seeking competitively priced zero carbon solar power . 9 penglai electric edit in january 2010 esolar announced a partnership with penglai electric a privately owned chinese electrical power equipment manufacturer to build 2 000 mw of solar thermal power plants in china by 2021 . 10 the deal represents china s largest csp project to date spring 2010 and has a total potential capital investment of more than 5 billion . under the master licensing agreement penglai electric will use esolar s solar thermal technology . the first plant of 92 mw will break ground in 2010 . the plants will be co located with biomass electricity generation facilities together eliminating 15 million tons of carbon dioxide emissions annually . 11 it appears that this partnership is no longer progressing . 12 ferrostaal edit in february 2010 ferrostaal a global power and industrial plant developer partnered with esolar to deploy turnkey solar power plants in countries including spain the united arab emirates and south africa . under the partnership esolar will provide solar field and receiver technology while ferrostaal will supply the power block act as general contractor and manage financing activities . 13 general electric edit in august 2011 general electric ge made a strategic investment of up to 40 million in esolar . 14 aalborg csp a s edit in december 2014 esolar was awarded a commercial contract by aalborg csp to provide a solar collector system scs solution for the sundrop farms port augusta expansion project . 15 this expansion will increase the greenhouses by 20 hectares in support of a 10 year tomato supply contract with coles . 16 recognition and awards edit when esolar s sierra suntower was unveiled in august 2009 california governor arnold schwarzenegger praised the company for ... proving that california s energy and environmental leadership are advancing carbon free cost effective energy that can be used around the world . 17 in december 2009 esolar was honored by the world economic forum as a 2010 technology pioneer . the award recognizes esolar s technological innovation and global commitment to delivering a clean low cost energy alternative to fossil fuels . 18 an interview with bill gross is featured on youtube where he responds to four questions posed to each of the world economic forum s technology pioneer 2010 winners . 19 in december 2009 editors of power engineering magazine selected sierra suntower as the winner of the best renewable project recognizing the facility as an exceptional power generation project toward meeting growing global demand . 20 in february 2010 sierra suntower won renewable energy world s renewable project of the year award . the award recognized esolar s achievements in the clean energy industry by naming sierra suntower an exceptional breakthrough in the commercialization of solar thermal technology . 21 in february 2010 esolar was named one of the massachusetts institute of technology mit s technology review s 2010 tr50 . the tr50 is a list of the 50 most innovative companies in the world those that have demonstrated superiority at creating technology that transforms how we live . the 2010 tr50 celebrates the development of emerging technologies and the progress made in those already established . esolar is honored alongside such companies as google apple twitter and ibm . 22 in march 2010 the wall street journal s first survey of venture backed clean technology companies featured esolar as a top 10 cleantech company with the capital executive experience and investor know how to succeed in an increasingly crowded field . 23 investors edit esolar has secured over 182 million in investment funds . investors include google.org 24 oak investment partners nrg energy acme group idealab and quercus trust . 25 management edit president & ceo john van scoter founder bill gross see also edit list of concentrating solar thermal power companies list of solar thermal power stations references edit http www.solarnovus.com solarpaces 2013 esolar debuts heliostat molten salt plant design n7008.html osti 1025891 esolar s modular scalable molten salt power tower reference plant design . energy procedia . 49 1563 1572 . doi 10.1016 j.egypro .2014.03.165 . esolar s modular scalable molten salt power tower reference plant design . energy procedia . 49 1563 1572 . doi 10.1016 j.egypro .2014.03.165 . esolar s modular scalable molten salt power tower reference plant design . energy procedia . 49 1563 1572 . doi 10.1016 j.egypro .2014.03.165 . esolar s modular scalable molten salt power tower reference plant design . energy procedia . 49 1563 1572 . doi 10.1016 j.egypro .2014.03.165 . http guntherportfolio.com 2013 04 esolar sierra suntower a history of concentrating solar power underperformance esolar s modular and scalable baseload molten salt plant design and feasibility project pdf . sunshot concentrating solar power program review 2013 . sunshot initiative u.s. department of energy . retrieved 26 august 2013 . http news.cnet.com 8301 11128 3 10169532 54.html http green.venturebeat.com 2010 01 11 esolar hits it big becomes first solar thermal player to land china deal http articles.latimes.com 2010 jan 09 business la fi solar9 2010jan09 http guntherportfolio.com 2013 05 esolar concentrating solar power