globalgypsumMAGAZINE
cation. An acre o land in the Mojave Desert in Caliorniawill generate more heat than an acre o land in Glasgowin the UK. However, a rough rule o thumb is that one-acre o GlassPoint’s solar array will produce about 1,MMBtu per annum.”Te land used or the GlassPoint solar array needsto be reasonably fat with no more than a 3% grade, andwhile it’s most e cient to have the array adjacent to theplant, it can be up to a mile or so away.”
Global Gypsum Magazine:“
In which geographicalareas is solar industrial process heat (SIPH) most cost-eective? Can a system like this work in cloudier areaslike the UK?”
Rod MacGregor:
“Solar thermal systems like Glass-Point’s rely on direct sunshine and are thus unable tocollect energy when clouds conceal the sun. Tereore,the most practical locations are those with bright sun-light or much o the year (
see map, above
).Some o these areas include theSouthwestern United States, SouthernEurope, North Arica, Northern India,Australia and much o the Middle East.Te map (on the ollowing page) showsthe locations o the drywall plants in theSouthwestern US that have enough solarresources to produce heat or less thanthe cost o natural gas.”
Global Gypsum Magazine:
“How doproject costs and ongoing costs stack up,compared to ‘normal’ production?”
Rod MacGregor:
“We have two mod-els or providing solar industrial processheat to our customers. Te rst optionis to enter into a Power Purchase Agree-ment (or PPA) with the drywall plantto supply heat at a specic price andschedule. Instead o paying the local util-ity or BUs o natural gas, the drywallplant pays GlassPoint or BUs o solarenergy. In good solar locations the price paid will bemuch lower than the price paid or natural gas. Further-more, the price paid to GlassPoint will be a xed ratethroughout the duration o the PPA, decoupling thedrywall industry rom volatile natural gas prices. In thisscenario, GlassPoint owns, operates, and maintains thesolar eld.Some customers preer to own and operate theirown equipment. Tis model provides the lowest costper solar MMBtu while oering the most operatingfexibility. Te drywall plant can choose to operate andmaintain the equipment internally or enlist GlassPoint via an operations and maintenance contract. Operationsand Maintenance (O&M) makes up a small raction o the cost per solar MMBtu. Te graph below comparesthe price o natural gas paid by industrial users to that o a GlassPoint solar-thermal system located in the South-western US. Tis gure depicts a system with a cost o $2.57 per MMBtu, o which O&M costs accountor just $.35 per MMBtu and the remaining$2.22 goes toward the cost o capital.”
Global Gypsum Magazine:“
Reducing greenhouse gasses is an international issue with many countries discussing legislation limiting carbonemissions. How does this aect the drywallindustry? How does GlassPoint address this con-cern?”
Rod MacGregor:
“Every BU o solar energy that is used in a drywall plant avoids burning aBU o natural gas and the subsequent emissionsit would have produced. In this way, the adoptiono solar power reduces the carbon ootprint o theentire drywall operation. Legislation pending inthe United States may enorce a limit on carbonemissions rom industrial users, implementing acap and trade system with nancial implicationsto those that emit large amounts o greenhousegases. Manuacturers that take preventive steps to
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globalgypsum
MAGAZINE
November/December 2009
Below:
Graph comparingnatural gas prices paid byindustrial users (Jan 2001to Aug 2009) to GlassPointsolar thermal system(modeled ater drywallplant in SouthwesternUS). The natural gas datais rom the US DOE EIA.The chart models the costo a GlassPoint systemwith and without USederal tax incentives.
Above:
Solar resourcemap o the contiguousUS, showing the locationo wallboard plants withviable solar resources.
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