Solar pond

A solar pond is a type of solar energy collector which uses a large, salt water-filled pond to collect and store energy from the Sun. Incoming solar radiation is captured by the water and is stored in the warmer lower layers of the pond. These ponds can be natural or man-made, but most 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 the gradient of salt-concentration in 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.

Figure 1. A diagram of a solar pond, showing the temperature and saline gradient.

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, heating up the storage zone. However, this newly heated water cannot rise, meaning that heat loss upwards is prevented. The salty water at the bottom cannot rise because it is heavier than the fresh water that is on top; therefore the upper layer prevents convection currents from forming. 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 loss of heat, the bottom of the pond is warmed to extremely high temperatures (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.

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

Applications

Figure 2. Solar evaporation ponds in the Atacama Desert.

The heat from solar ponds can be used in a variety of different ways.

1. First, since the heat storing abilities of solar ponds are so great, they are ideal for heating and cooling buildings because they can maintain a fairly stable temperature.
2. 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).
3. 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, but also 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.

For Further Reading

• Sun
• Solar power
• Solar power tower
• Solar thermal power plant
• Primary energy
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