Offshore Solar Energy

Solar energy technologies potentially suitable for use in ocean environments

include concentrating solar power technology and photonic technology.
Solar energy reaches the United States at an average rate of about 6 million
BTU/m2(about 6,330 megajoules/m2) per year. Every minute the sun bathes the Earth in
as much energy as the world consumes in an entire year.
Since oceans cover more than 70 percentof the earth's surface, they receive an
enormous amount of solar energy. Deep ocean currents, waves, and winds all are a result
of the sun's radiant energy and differential heating of the earths surface and oceans.
Solar Energy Technologies
Solar radiation can be converted directly to usable energy through a variety of
technologies. While there are no commercial solar energy facilities operating offshore at
this time, solar energy technologies potentially suitable for use in offshore ocean
environments include concentrating solar power (CSP) technology and photonic
technology. CSP is a thermal solar technology that concentrates the sun's rays to heat
fluids or solids, and the heat is used to drive steam turbines or other devices to generate
power. Photonic technologies convert the sun's radiant energy directly to electricity or
other useful forms of energy. Selection of the appropriate solar technology for a given
situation depends in part on the intended use of the energy to be generated. CSP
technologies might be more appropriate for generating and delivering electricity to
shore, while photonic technology might be more appropriate for generation of electricity
to be used "on-site" (such as offshore platforms) and for supplying energy for activities
such as hydrogen production or desalinization.
Concentrating Solar Power (CSP) Technology
CSP plants generate electric power by using mirrors to concentrate (focus) the sun's
energy and convert it into high-temperature heat. That heat is then channeled through a
conventional generator. The plants consist of two parts: one that collects solar energy
and converts it to heat, and another that converts the heat energy to electricity. In the
United States, onshore CSP plants have been operating reliably for more than 15 years.
This approach requires large areas for solar radiation collection to produce electricity at
commercial scale.
CSP utilizes three technological approaches: trough systems, power tower systems, and
dish/engine systems.
Trough systems use large, U-shaped (parabolic) reflectors (focusing mirrors) that have
oil-filled pipes running along their center, or focal point, as shown below. The mirrored
reflectors focus sunlight onto the pipes and heat the oil inside to temperatures as high as
750F. The hot oil is used to boil water, which produces steam to run conventional steam
turbines and generators.

Land-based parabolic trough system.

(Credit: Argonne National Laboratory)

Power tower systems, also called central receivers, use many large, flat heliostats
(mirrors) to track the sun and focus its rays onto a receiver. As shown below, the receiver
sits on top of a tall tower in which concentrated sunlight heats a fluid, such as molten
salt, to temperatures as high as 1,050F. The hot fluid can be used to boil water, which
produces steam to run conventional steam
turbines and generators. Or, the thermal energy
can be effectively stored for hours, if desired, to
allow for electricity production during periods of
peak demand, even when the sun is not shining.
Dish/engine systems use mirrored dishes
(about 10 times larger than a backyard satellite
dish) to focus and concentrate sunlight onto a
receiver.The receiver is mounted at the focal
point of the dish. To capture the maximum
amount of solar energy, the dish assembly
tracks the sun across the sky. The receiver is
integrated into a high-efficiency "external"
combustion engine. The engine has thin tubes
A solar power tower in operation. Notice the
containing hydrogen or helium gas that run
mirrors are concentrating sunlight at the top
along the outside of the engine's four piston
of the tower.
cylinders and open into the cylinders. As
concentrated sunlight falls on the receiver, it heats the gas in the tubes to very high
temperatures, which causes hot gas to expand inside the cylinders. The expanding gas
drives the pistons. The pistons turn a crankshaft, which drives an electric generator. The
receiver, engine, and generator comprise a single, integrated assembly mounted at the
focus of the mirrored dish.

Solar Photonic Technology

Solar photonic technology absorbs solar photons (particles of light that act as
individual units of energy), and converts the energy to electricity (as in a photovoltaic
(PV) cell) or stores part of the energy in a chemical reaction (as in the conversion of
water to hydrogen and oxygen).
PV technology converts sunlight directly to electricity. Concentrated PV
(CPV)systems, which must track the sun to keep the light focused on the PV cells, use
various methods to concentrate sunlight such as mirrors or lenses. The primary
advantages of CPV systems are high efficiency, low system cost, and low capital
investment to facilitate rapid scale-up; reliability, however, is an important technical
challenge for this emerging technological approach.
For More Information

Download the Technology White Paper on Solar

Energy Potential on the U.S. Outer Continental
Shelf.
For more information on solar power technologies, visit DOEs solar
webpage, EEREssolar webpage, or NRELs solar research webpage