About Us

Offices, plants and installations

General

Our commitment

At Abengoa, we believe that it is time to create a sustainable model of economic development

Our World Today

The overwhelming weight of scientific opinion is that climate change is a reality.At Abengoa Solar, we believe that it is our responsibility to develop and apply solutions that solve this major problem facing mankind.

Climate change is intensifying weather extremes, such as hurricanes, floods, droughts and desertification, and is radically changing ecosystems.If we do not develop alternatives to existing patterns of energy use, the consequences of climate change will get even worse.

Our World Tomorrow

The International Energy Agency forecasts that in 2030…

In order to reduce climate change and ensure sustainable economic development it is necessary to foster the rational use of energy together with the adoption of renewable energy technologies.

The scenario described by the IEA shows greenhouse gas emissions increasing. At Abengoa Solar, we believe that to stop climate change, we must create public awareness of the problem and the need to adopt renewable energy solutions.

Solar thermal and Solar PV show great potential as a key means of addressing climate change. Solar energy technology has progressed greatly in recent years with many installations planned. Progress and innovation will continue to make solar technologies a key feature of future sustainable development.

Abengoa Solar’s Commitment to Solar Energy

• Great Potential

The solar energy that Earth receives in ten days equals the energy content of all the fossil fuel reserves (gas, coal and oil).

The solar energy intercepted by the earth in one day is forty times higher than the world annual energy consumption.

• Mature and ready commercially-ready technologies.

Today, solar technologies are mature and offer a clean and reliable source of energy. They have a long history of successful commercial operation and vast potential to satisfy future energy needs.

• Inexhaustible and Clean Energy all over the World.
  Solar resources are distributed worldwide, from the most arid to the most fertile regions.

• Soon, Solar energy technologies will compete with fossil fuels.
  Past investments by institutions and companies in the development of solar technologies have been driven by the price of oil.
  
  Future investments can be expected to grow rapidly as fossil fuel prices continue to increase due to:
  
      - Reductions in fossil fuel reserves.
      - Penalties for CO2 emission.
  
  In contrast to the increasing cost of fossil fuels, the cost of solar energy will decrease as the technology improves and level of deployment increases. The graph below shows that the present cost of solar energy for electric power production is higher than conventional sources, but future costs could be lower as CSP and PV costs are reduced. Solar thermal heat technologies are already competitive with electricity and oil as a source of heat and are becoming more competitive with natural gas every day.

There are three main areas of solar technology:

• Concentrated Solar Power (CSP) Technology: Solar energy is concentrated and used to produce thermal energy. This thermal energy is then converted to electricity using conventional thermodynamic cycles.
• Solar Heat Technologies: Parabolic trough technology is used to produce heat to replace conventional energy used to heat water and air, to generate steam and to produce air-conditioning.
• Photovoltaic (PV) Technology: Through the use of semiconductor materials and the photoelectric effect, electricity can be produced directly from solar radiation.

Concentrated Solar Power

• Concentrated Solar Power: CSP can be easily integrated into conventional steam or combined cycle plants at low additional cost conventional steam thermal plants
  Electricity from a solar resource is generated using the same thermodynamic cycle as conventional plants. The only difference is the substitution of the boilder for a solar field and the use of solar energy instead of fossil fuels.
• Concentrated Solar Power: Optimum energy to cover peak electricity demands
  Energy delivery from a CSP plant coincides well with electricity demand. Peak electricity demand tends to occur when the sun is most intense. Even in colder climates, summer peaks are signifigantly greater than winter demand because air-conditioning loads are increasing.
• Concentrated Solar Power: Reliable energy delivery using storage and fossil fuel hybridization
  Solar energy plants can deliver power at any time of the day or night when they are combined with thermal energy storage or are hybridized with a backup fossil fuel source.

Photovoltaic

• Photovoltaic: Grid-connected and remote installations
  PV plants can be built as:
     -Grid-connected installations ranging in size from large, utility-scale plants to small
       residential systems
     -Off-grid, distributed installations supplying power to remote locations.
• Photovoltaic: Easy integration with buildings
  PV modules are often mounted on building roofs, utilizing space that would otherwise go unused. With the use of thin film technologies, PV can be integrated into building structure as part of the roof, windows or facade.

Abengoa Solar applies and develops solar technology

Abengoa Solar is a company committed to developing PV, CSP and industrial heat technologies for commercial, industrial and utility applications.

» Our activities

A primary focus of Abengoa Solar is the use of R&D as a means of continuous product improvement in manufacturing, installation and operation. (Abengoa Solar New Technologies )

Links

Download our White Paper of Tower Technology

Download our White Paper of parabolic Trough Technology