Phoenix Cement wins support for solar field project

Phoenix Cement, Arizona, USA, has won support from the Clarkdale Town Council for a proposed solar field project at the Clarkdale plant.

According to local media reports, the Town Council noted that “The Town of Clarkdale should be happy to encourage renewable energy projects in and near our town, since these projects will contribute to our goal of energy, water and economic sustainability and further our vision for instilling a culture of sustainability in Clarkdale.”

The Phoenix Cement plant, part of the Salt River Materials Group, is proposing to install up to 370 Infinia PowerDish systems (PDS), to be spread across some 7 acres at the Clarkdale plant. The ~1 MW solar field will be financed by Infinia, supplier of the project, until they find other investors, and the electricity will be sold to Phoenix Cement.

The Clarksdale plant is not the first cement plant in the US to utilise solar power. Earlier this year, the Holcim Portland plant announced that installation of its 528 solar panels was complete and the plant was now using all of the energy the panels could provide. Elsewhere, Infinia has been chosen as supplier to Dalmia Cement’s solar power project in India.

According to the Infinia PowerDish spec sheet, ‘At the heart of the Infinia PowerDish lies a long-life, zero-maintenance Free-Piston Stirling Engine. This engine converts an externally-applied temperature differential into electricity.

In the PowerDish, this temperature differential is maintained by using a mass-produced, dish-style solar concentrator to track the sun and heat one end of the engine, while the other end is cooled by a closed-loop, automotive style cooling system.

The result is a very high performance, mass-produced solar power generation system that generates more kilowatt-hours at a lower cost than competing solutions.’

Read the article online at: https://www.worldcement.com/the-americas/08072010/phoenix_cement_wins_support_for_solar_field_project/