StratoSolar
+1 408 821 7036
  • Home
  • Technology
    • Key Enabling Insights
    • PV Generation Platforms
    • Gravity Energy Storage
    • Communications Platform
    • Proven Technologies
    • Example Complete Energy Solution for the UK
    • Common Concerns >
      • Airspace
      • Hurricanes
      • FAQ
    • Gallery of Images >
      • Platform Shadow Videos
      • Japan Energy Solution Map
      • 2050 World Energy Sankey Diagram
      • 2050 Synthetic Fuel solution
      • 2050 Electricity solution
      • Climate Change Videos
  • Benefits
    • Low Cost Generation
    • Low Cost Energy Storage
    • Cost Reduction Roadmap
    • Sustainable and Scale-able
    • Zero Carbon
    • Energy Security
  • Contact Us
  • Blog
  • Login
    • Presentations
    • Gallery >
      • PV Documents >
        • PV Big Picture policy level document
        • PV California deployment
        • PV Japan deployment
        • PV UK deployment
        • Wind and Buoyancy Forces
  • Related Sites
  • Solve for x Videos

Obtaining Power plant Finance and Insurance

6/10/2011

Comments

 
An email message raised the problem of financing and insuring projects as a big if not insurmountable impediment.  This is an attempt to address this issue.

As stated in the opening blog posting, the StratoSolar-PV alternative is the result of studying the concerns raised by the original CSP based design which was perceived to be too risky on several fronts.

·         The risk of catastrophic loss from extreme weather events

·         The complexity of developing many technologies at untested scales and new environments

·         The complexity of needing many costly and risky elements to build a system

·         The inability to demonstrate and develop a system on a small scale

The PV system attacks these concerns directly.  The design reduces catastrophic risks, has many fewer technology development elements, has very few elements to build a system, and provides incremental engineering development and incremental system deployment starting from a much lower initial cost in order to reduce financial risk at each stage. 

Catastrophic risks are reduced by reducing the wind loads on the tethers and the PV array platform to where the system can sustain winds beyond worst case known winds simultaneously at all altitudes. The tethers have a very low cross section, and the platform is horizontal with a low cross section and static with no moving parts.

The development can start with a small engineering test platform and simple tether for that will cost less than $1M, with another $1M for R&D engineering.  This gets across the psychological barrier of actually tethering something useful at 20km altitude.  It also develops and tests all the platform structural and electrical elements.

The 10MW power platform will cost around $20M with another $20M for R&D.  This expenditure will be incremental in nature.

Finance and Insurance costs depend on the risks and the rewards.  Unlike nuclear power, liability insurance should be low.  Understanding the probabilities of damaging or destructive events will only come with time and experience.  The R&D process should provide a degree of confidence as it progresses over several years and the technology becomes familiar.  A successful R&D program that results in a product that demonstrates competitive economics for solar power will be a powerful incentive to overcome what should by then be imagined risks.  The first systems will be relatively small investments.  If the market finds it too difficult to fund or insure the early deployment stage, it is reasonable to expect that government assistance perhaps in the form of loan guarantees will fill that gap.  Governments currently seem happiest supporting alternative energy at the early deployment stage.   

Comments
comments powered by Disqus

    Ed Kelly

    President of StratoSolar

    View my profile on LinkedIn

    Archives

    February 2023
    November 2022
    October 2022
    July 2022
    June 2022
    May 2022
    April 2022
    March 2022
    February 2022
    January 2022
    December 2021
    October 2021
    September 2021
    August 2021
    July 2021
    June 2021
    March 2021
    January 2021
    November 2020
    August 2020
    July 2020
    June 2020
    February 2020
    December 2019
    November 2019
    October 2019
    September 2019
    August 2019
    July 2019
    June 2019
    May 2019
    April 2019
    February 2019
    January 2019
    December 2018
    November 2018
    October 2018
    September 2018
    July 2018
    June 2018
    May 2018
    April 2018
    March 2018
    February 2018
    January 2018
    December 2017
    November 2017
    October 2017
    September 2017
    August 2017
    June 2017
    May 2017
    April 2017
    March 2017
    February 2017
    January 2017
    December 2016
    November 2016
    October 2016
    September 2016
    August 2016
    July 2016
    June 2016
    April 2016
    February 2016
    January 2016
    December 2015
    November 2015
    October 2015
    September 2015
    August 2015
    July 2015
    June 2015
    May 2015
    April 2015
    March 2015
    February 2015
    January 2015
    December 2014
    November 2014
    October 2014
    September 2014
    August 2014
    July 2014
    May 2014
    April 2014
    March 2014
    February 2014
    January 2014
    December 2013
    November 2013
    October 2013
    September 2013
    August 2013
    July 2013
    June 2013
    May 2013
    April 2013
    March 2013
    January 2013
    December 2012
    November 2012
    October 2012
    September 2012
    August 2012
    July 2012
    June 2012
    May 2012
    April 2012
    March 2012
    February 2012
    December 2011
    November 2011
    October 2011
    September 2011
    August 2011
    July 2011
    June 2011
    May 2011
    November 2010

    Categories

    All
    All Energy
    Alternative Energy
    Bill Gates
    China
    Clean Energy Investment
    Clean Energy Price
    Desalination
    Developing World
    Energy
    Energy-investment
    Energy Policy
    Germany
    Helium
    Japan Energy Pv
    Land Use
    O3b
    Pv
    PV Bubble
    Pv Subsidies
    Stratosolar
    Us Subsidies
    Wireless Communications

    RSS Feed

 © 2023 StratoSolar Inc. All rights reserved. ​618 S. 8th Street, Suite 400B, Richmond, CA 94804
Contact Us