Although many technologies have been proposed and some have generated electricity at full scale, it is difficult to predict which technology will be economic at large scales of installation.
For example, Rasmussen and Svedung (2000) argue that due to the fast pace of technological change, the scale of industrial installations, and the high degree of integration and coupling across systems, it is 'becoming increasing difficult to model work organisations in isolation and to make small-scale, local experiments to evaluate models' (10).
"I supervised the design of the installation in space, but we also determined the layout and scale of the installation together.
The scale of the installation is incredible but it is also very simplistic - both of which add to the display.
An impression for the scale of the installation is given in Fig. 7. Open image in new window Fig. 7 Conceptual design of a 665 MMscf/day CRS installation (on scale).
When we first got news of the scale of the installation, a single continuous sculpture from the gallery's front door which pierces walls, making its way through the length of the gallery all the way to the back offices, our first response was -- "Wow!" Terminus of "Distillation" in James Cohan's office.
At 800 megawatts total, the new plants will greatly exceed the scale of previous solar installations.
Louisiana resides in an area of the USA where the solar resource is substantially less than that of the current commercial scale CSP installations of the Southwestern United States [9]. Figure 1 shows a map of the US Concentrating Solar Resource developed by the National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL), while Fig. 2 is a screen capture of the NREL NRSDB viewer displaying the GHI resource.
Both systems, commercial and institutional, are driven by spectacle, whether the spectacle of high prices or the spectacle of large scale or feats of installation.
Calculated power outputs were utilized in a net present value (NPV) framework to assess the financial feasibility and economic implications of small scale TEG installations, as well as to address the aspects of TEG research, design and implementation which have potential for rapid and substantive improvement.
