Solar pond

A solar pond is a solar energy collector, generally fairly large in size, that looks like a pond. This type of solar energy collector uses a large, salty lake as a kind of a flat plate collector that absorbs and stores energy from the Sun in the warm, lower layers of the pond. These ponds can be natural or man-made, but generally speaking the solar ponds that are in operation today are artificial.

How they Work

The key characteristic of solar ponds that allow them to function effectively as a solar energy collector is a salt-concentration gradient of the water. This gradient results in water that is heavily salinated collecting at the bottom of the pond, with concentration decreasing towards the surface resulting in cool, fresh water on top of the pond. This collection of salty water at the bottom of the lake is known as the "storage zone", while the freshwater top layer is known as the "surface zone". The overall pond is several meters deep, with the "storage zone" being one or two meters thick.

These ponds must be clear for them to operate properly, as sunlight cannot penetrate to the bottom of the pond if the water is murky. When sunlight is incident on these ponds, most of the incoming sunlight reaches the bottom and thus the "storage zone" heats up. However, this newly heated water cannot rise and thus heat loss upwards is prevented. The salty water cannot rise because it is heavier than the fresh water that is on top of the pond, and thus the upper layer prevents convection currents from forming. Because of this, the top layer of the pond acts as a type of insulating blanket, and the main heat loss process from the storage zone is stopped. Without a loss of heat, the bottom of the pond is warmed to extremely high temperatures - it can reach about 90°C. If the pond is being used to generate electricity this temperature is high enough to initiate and run an organic Rankine cycle engine.

Figure 1. Diagram of a solar pond showing the temperature and saline gradient.

It is vital that the salt concentrations and cool temperature of the top layer are maintained in order for these ponds to work. The surface zone is mixed and kept cool by winds and heat loss by evaporation. This top zone must also be flushed continuously with fresh water to ensure that there is no accumulation of salt in the top layer, since the salt from the bottom layer diffuses through the saline gradient over time. Additionally, a solid salt or brine mixture must be added to the pond frequently to make up for any upwards salt loses.

Applications

The heat from solar ponds can be used in a variety of different ways. First, since the heat storing abilities of solar ponds are so great they are ideal for use in heating and cooling buildings as they can maintain a fairly stable temperature. These ponds can also be used to generate electricity either by driving a thermo-electric device or some organic Rankine engine cycle - simply a turbine powered by evaporating a fluid (in this case a fluid with a lower boiling point). Finally, solar ponds can be used for desalination purposes as the low cost of this thermal energy can be used to remove the salt from water for drinking or irrigation purposes.

Benefits and Drawbacks

One benefit of using these ponds is that they have an extremely large thermal mass. Since these ponds can store heat energy very well, they can generate electricity during the day when the Sun is shining as well as at night.

Despite being a source of energy, there are numerous thermodynamic limitations as a result of the relatively low temperatures achieved in these ponds. Because of this, the solar-to-electricity conversion is fairly inefficient - generally less than 2%. As well, large amounts of fresh water are necessary to maintain the right salt concentrations all through the pond. This is an issue in places where fresh water is hard to come by, especially in desert environments. These ponds also do not work well at high latitudes as the collection surface is horizontal and cannot be tilted to collect more sunlight.