APS, US Solar get $4.35 mil grant to test out solar-thermal systems

Arizona Public Service Co. and US Solar, a Boise, Idaho, company with Tucson offices, received a $4.35 million grant from the U.S. Department of Energy to test solar-thermal power-plant designs

The companies will design and build a system that stores the heat captured from a solar-thermal power plant.

Storing heat from such plants allows them to generate electricity after sundown, unlike photovoltaic solar panels that don't generate power in the dark.

After modeling at the University of Arizona, and with help from Arizona State University, Georgia Institute of Technology, Klondyke Construction and Ironco Enterprises of Phoenix, the companies will build a storage system at the Saguaro Solar Power Plant near Tucson.