Solar Tower

Solar Tower: Overview

A or solar chimney is a renewable-energy power plant. Air, passing under a very large agricultural glass house (between 2-30 kilomters in diameter), is heated by the sun and travels upwards towards a convection tower where it rises naturally, thereby driving wind turbines, which generate electricity. The resulting electricity may be used to generate hydrogen fuel and other forms of appropriate and renewable energy.

Solar Towers may be built almost entirely from recycled materials as described in the abstract listed at .

The most significant byproducts include distilled water (made from ocean water or ground water), fruits and vegetables, as well medicinal and aromatic essential oils made from herbs and flowers, seaweeds and planktons, blue-green algae, all of which may be grown under the solar collector itself. Residual biomass will create additional heat during composting, as will the various distillation, food processing and manufacturing operations. Other byproducts include ethanol and methane, bio-diesel and all manner of vegetable and plant derivatives. All heat generated from the air-conditioning of factories, offices, schools, shopping malls and homes can be funneled to the towers as well to optimize refridgeration and air-conditioning operations.

Solar Tower: Essential architecture (fig. 1)

Another benefit of the concept is its ability to generate “Surrogate Solar Power" during cloudy periods and at night. Water vapors rising through the tower during daylight hours are condensed near the top of the and return to holding tanks situated throughout the structure. The distributed water vessels act collectively as a "heat sink." The radiant heat (escaping from the water containers) during overcast or cooling periods and at night continues to drive the turbines. Near dawn, the cooled waters, driven by gravitational pull, return towards the periphery, driving hydroelectric pumps, and perform other kinetic works. Thereafter, the cooled waters are distributed as irrigation for the biodynamic gardens, tree farms, reforestation projects and as domestic drinking water, etc.

Solar Tower: History

One of the earliest descriptions of solar chimney was written in 1931 by a German author, Hanns Günther. Most recently , under the direction of German engineer Prof. Dr. Ing., Jörg Schlaich, built a working model of a in 1982 in Manzaranes, (Spain), 150 km south of Madrid, which was financed by the German Government. This power plant operated successfully for approximately 8 years. The chimney had a diameter of 10 meters and a height of 195 meters. The maximum power was about 50 kW. It was, most unfortunately, destroyed by heavy weather and thunderstorms in 1989 and was officially decommissioned. However, during the final 3 years, optimization data was collected on a second-by-second basis by . The resultant data has been licensed to and HOWEVER no patent was ever awarded and Solar Towers may be built at anytime, anywhere by anyone so long as local laws and official regulations are observed in the respective jurisdictions.

Solar Tower: Public Domain & Intellectual Property

NOTE* ?EnviroMission Ltd. of Australia and SolarMission Technologies Inc. USA have both made questionable claims to ownership of 'exclusive rights to Solar Tower technology',? says the owner of the , " and considerable controversy surrounds these claims to geophysical territorial rights; Such claims may have been made inappropriately both in recent times and in the past.?

As a direct result of this contoversy, The is now being hosted as a public service initiative by the owner of the . All those concerned including the international academic community, professional community and general public are invited to participate in the design, construction and implementation of worldwide. Related:

Solar Tower: Development

Wentworth Shire, New South Wales, Australia. If built, it will become the tallest structure in the world, with a height of one kilometer. EnviroMission is also working with Sunshine Energy (Aust.) Pty Ltd. to enable development of this technology in China. However, the Enviromission/SolarMission business models do not conform with traditional cooperative ventures per se; whereas recent negotiations to build Cooperatively owned and operated are underway with organizations such as , (a NonProfit 501.c3) who have been promoting a sustainable and for over 40 years collectively. Patented Reversible Fuel Cells are under consideration for use as primary components in (toy) models of Solar Towers (complementary to the HOPE Curriculum) as well as in large scale applications within Solar Tower Cluster Villages.

A NASA to further exploration of opportunities in Solar Tower implementation, was called by H.Alfred Goolsbee, Founder of the * and was held at NASA Ames Research Park in June 2003. Prof. Daniel M. Kammen of the was in attendance. Professor Daniel Kammen (Standing camera's right)

Camera's left to right: Mark Beskind-Legal Dept. NASA Ames; WilliamBerry-Director Univ. of Calf. Silicon Valley Center; Dr. Burney Le Boeuf-DeputyVice Chancellor for Research Univ. of Calf. Santa Cruz; Dr. Stephanie Langhoff-NASA Ames Chief Scientist; Thomas "TJ" Reardon-Recycling Engineer; Azrrik Tawaweseoma Hahn-Youth Education Coordinator for Solar Tower Renewable Energy Alliance of America; Michael Marlaire-Assistant Director for Development, Office of the Director; Dr.Peter Friedland-NASA Ames Chief Technology Officer; William Lloyd-Enterprise Engineer Apple Macintosh Computers.

Please be advised that: NASA does not endorse or sponsor any commercial product, service, or activity. This information is presented for purposes of historical reference only and for no other reason. For more information on the progress of these discussions please contact Dr. Daniel Kammen.

Solar Tower: Urgent Reasons to Build

referrence: . -This book is a wellspring of information containing many additional referrences peritnent to Humanities' urgent need for Solar Tower construction on a global scale. See internal link Thom Hartmann

Solar Tower: Alternate Usage of the Term

The term Solar Tower also refers to structures used to support equipment for studying the sun. Examples are the Mount Wilson 150ft and 60 ft towers. The 60 ft tower is used to study helioseismology.

The term Solar Tower has also be used to refer to other structures used for experimental purposes, such as the (STACEE) Solar Tower Atmospheric Cherenkov Effect Experiment which is being used to study Cherenkov radiation, and the Weizmann Institute solar power tower.