The human knowhow stretches in and around all sorts of directions, but the most important knowledge that we have talks straight to our ability of growing on a consistent basis. This unfaltering commitment towards getting better, no matter the situation, has brought the world some huge milestones, with technology emerging as quite a major member of the group. The reason why we hold technology in such a high regard is, by and large, predicated upon its skill-set, which guided us towards a reality that nobody could have ever imagined otherwise. Nevertheless, if we look beyond the surface for one hot second, it will become abundantly clear how the whole runner was also very much inspired from the way we applied those skills across a real world environment. The latter component, in fact, did a lot to give the creation a spectrum-wide presence, and as a result, initiated a full-blown tech revolution. Of course, the next thing this revolution did was to scale up the human experience through some outright unique avenues, but even after achieving a feat so notable, technology will somehow continue to bring forth the right goods. The same has turned more and more evident in recent times, and assuming one new discovery ends up with the desired impact, it will only put that trend on a higher pedestal moving forward.
GlassPoint, the leader in decarbonizing industrial process heat, has officially launched a range of technology advances that are expected to instigate an estimated 30% reduction in the cost of solar steam. Not just cost, the company has also launched a new Unify storage system which uses direct heat and ternary molten salts to provide around-the-clock steam for industry. By doing so, it instantly removes any need for costly heat exchangers, and therefore, makes a major cut back on the cost proposition. Before we can understand how the feat is achieved in practice, we must acknowledge that GlassPoint’s systems previously featured agricultural greenhouses which provided protection from harsh remote environments and enabled the use of low-cost and low-weight materials inside. Under the given development, though, the company has effectively changed the heavier glass windows found in traditional greenhouses, opting instead for a protective film, a far lighter material that requires less metal support. In case the stated incentive isn’t enough, then it would be worth our while to acknowledge how the material also scales up air tightness and weatherization, a crucial factor when the agenda is to bolster to overall system performance. Another alteration GlassPoint has conceived here is that it changed the sawtooth-style glass roof structure to a hoop-shaped design. Such a move will reduce mirror shading by up to 38%, while simultaneously enabling rows of mirrors to be placed closer together for the purpose of generating greater steam amount per foot.
The company has already conducted some initial tests with the changed design where its new hoop-shaped structure did show promising results. By promising, we mean a sizeable 52% reduction in embodied carbon, a 45% reduction in structural mass required for the enclosure, as well as 16% cut back in the context of total project cost. This, notably enough, doesn’t even take into account how the design switch brings down the complexity which we have long come to associate with the technology in question.
Next up, it’s time for us to unpack GlassPoint’s new Unify storage system. Working ternary molten salts under direct heat, the storage system has all the means to put at your disposal a reliable stock of steam that is available around the clock. The new iteration, however, goes a step further, and it does so through complete elimination of the need for costly heat exchangers, oil handlers, and oil itself. In terms of other specific features, the Unify storage system is programmed to a temperature of 450°C, a sweet spot in thermal storage which halves the amount of storage tanks typically require so to lower the capital costs. Making the system even more universal is its ability to incorporate a wide range of energy sources to create steam, and also save it for future use. Now, when you place this storage system alongside GlassPoint’s updated enclosure design, you can give yourself a chance to generate total cost savings of somewhere around 30%.
“These landmark technological achievements confirm that GlassPoint’s solar steam will not only help industrial companies meet net-zero commitments, but also will boost the bottom line,” said Rod MacGregor, CEO and founder of GlassPoint. “Our cost curve continues to outperform solar PV, while offering greater predictability than legacy fossil fuels. With the top solar thermal engineering team in the industry and a culture of innovation, GlassPoint is uniquely positioned to continue delivering compelling economics which are essential to decarbonize materials essential to the energy transition.”
Founded in 2008, GlassPoint has risen up the ranks by helping a industrial heat market worth $444 billion meet its critical goal of achieving zero net emissions. The company has managed to provide the advertised help, thanks to its knowhow in building and operating large-scale solar steam facilities that reduce carbon emissions, specifically in hard-to-abate industries such as mining and metals, chemicals, construction materials, desalination and more. GlassPoint’s excellence in what it does can also be understood once you consider it has on the offer the only solution proven, at scale, to reduce carbon emissions from industrial process heat. This means the company has built literally more than half of the industrial solar steam capacity in the world.
