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Advantage And Disadvantage Of Solar Energy

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Concerns about the well-being of the environment have driven the world towards the use of renewable energy sources. The issue at hand was to determine which salt, between CloKMag, FLiBe, and FLiNaK, would be the best option to be used in conjunction with a concentrated solar plant in order to supply power to all 100,000 of Salt Bay’s residents for the least cost. Since solar energy has been criticized for only being able to produce daytime power, the addition of salt storage has allowed energy generation throughout the day. This power has to be available 24 hours a day, year round. Through the use of mass and energy balances, the recommended salt was found to be FLiNaK, with a net cost per year of $147,000,000. In order to break even, a utility cost on Salt Bay residents would be $0.16. This is 11% cheaper than the second least expensive option.

1. Introduction
CSP, or concentrating solar power, plants are a modern method of generating energy through utilization of sunlight and thermal energy. With the assistance from internal mirrors, solar energy is concentrated onto a small area allowing electricity to be created from the drive of steam turbines. There are three main systems in which CSP plants occur: trough systems, power tower systems, and dish/engine systems. In the trough system, mirrors are used to reflect sunlight onto oil-filled pipes in order to heat the pipes, and eventually, boil surrounding water to create steam to power the turbine. The mirrors in power tower

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