EEVblog 1553 – World’s First Commercial Solar Power Station

Dave visists the world’s first commercial solar power station in White Cliffs, a small opal mining town in outback Australia. Built in 1981 and using 14 heliostatic tracking 5m diameter dishes, this concentrated thermal solar plant produced 25kW of power using a steam generator.

Links: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/White_Cliffs_Solar_Power_Station Analysis report: https://eevblog.com/files/sustain_renew_solar_white_cliffs_project_report.pdf
Mirror efficiency data: https://www.nrel.gov/docs/fy08osti/43695.pdf
Heritage Listing: https://portal.engineersaustralia.org.au/system/files/engineering-heritage-australia/nomination-title/White_Cliffs_Nomination.pdf
History: https://ehive.com/collections/7333/the-white-cliffs-solar-thermal-power-station
Steam genertor assesment: https://www.researchgate.net/publication/309426826_An_Experimental_and_Analytical_Assessment_of_a_Steam_Rankine_Solar_Thermal_Power_System
https://wiki.opensourceecology.org/wiki/Steam_Engine/Correspondence

Forum: https://www.eevblog.com/forum/blog/eevblog-1553-worlds-first-commercial-solar-power-station/