Last week, Enel Green Power inaugurated its solar-geothermal plant at Stillwater, Nevada. It is the world’s first plant of this kind.

The Stillwater facility combines 26 MW of photovoltaic solar generating capacity with 33 MW of baseload geothermal power, demonstrating how a single power plant can deliver renewable peak and baseload power. Currently, utilities often use renewable energy sources like solar power during hours of peak consumer demand, and combine it with a “baseload” coal or natural gas plant to ensure a steady power supply. The facility provides 59 megawatts (MW) of combined capacity to power more than 50,000 local homes.

The project was built on the existing Stillwater geothermal plant, which opened in the area on 2009. The original facility had a generation capacity of 33 MW of geothermal power. To provide the solar energy, Enel Green Power North America (EGP) installed more than 89,000 polycrystalline photovoltaic panels on a 240-acre parcel of land adjacent to the Stillwater geothermal plant, which opened in 2009.

Utah State University electrical engineers have made a technical breakthrough that could solve this power-storage pitfall — not by improving batteries, but by recharging them wirelessly, according to Jeff Muhs, director of USU’s Energy Dynamics Laboratory (EDL) in North Logan.

EDL researchers have built prototype equipment that allows electricity to hop over a 10-inch span with 90 percent efficiency.

“This demonstration is an extraordinary and historic step in providing technologies to electric-vehicle owners who will be able to pull their cars into garages at home and charge without having to plug in with cords,” Muhs said. “This is just the beginning.”

The demonstrated efficiency compares favorably with the amount of electricity leaking out of the existing grid or lost from wall outlets, said Hunter Wu, a young EDL engineer leading the project.

“There are many challenges. We’re making breakthroughs on energy conversion,” said Wu during a recent demonstration. “Here we are going from direct current to high-frequency alternating energy, which creates the high-frequency magnetic fields to transfer power.”

Wu, who was born in China and grew up New Zealand, came to the lab last year from the University of Auckland, where he was a scientific prodigy. Studying under a bioengineer who developed groundbreaking technology to wirelessly power heart implants, he earned a doctorate in electrical engineering at 19.

His team, which includes engineers Ky Sealy and Aaron Gilchrist, can move five kilowatts of electricity noiselessly from one interface across an air gap to a receiving pad, which powers a bank of light bulbs.

Ford Begins Taking Orders for C-MAX Hybrid

Ford dealers are now taking orders for the Ford C-MAX Hybrid, which will be more affordable than Toyota Prius v while achieving better fuel economy

Class-exclusive technologies include hands-free liftgate, active park assist for easier parallel parking and next-generation SmartGauge