Talk:Solar pond

School project
writen adjunct to a school project. i am disenclined to add more. this may be updated by me if interest persists. — Preceding unsigned comment added by 68.221.66.62 (talk) 03:29, 28 November 2005‎ (UTC)
 * Well that's just super for you. Merge with solar power, eh? --Wtshymanski 18:50, 26 January 2006 (UTC)

Solar ponds are now used in many parts of the world?
Somewhere in the article it says "Solar ponds are now used in many parts of the world, especially in rural areas", but no reference is given to back that up. I did a little bit of sleuthing myself, and what I came across is the Bhuj Solar Pond in India. The research phase of that project was completed more than a decade ago, and it says that operation was turned over to a diary farm. However, no information is provided of how that has been going; perhaps they shut the whole thing down 10 years ago, who knows? With no reliable information about how this thing is keeping up in the harsh reality of daily life we really don't know whether this thing is worth the plastic liner it is made of. JdH 16:59, 21 March 2006 (UTC)
 * They have (or had) one in Texas (UTEP?) that supposedly worked very well and I think Israel has some, but it is an overstatement to say that they are used in many parts of the world. Photovoltaics will probably continue to be the best option for remote areas, as long as they do not have large power demands (although with the bigger budgets, they are now building very big arrays). If the small (relatively), modular solar dishes that are in the same power range work out well, then I think that they may be chosen instead of solar ponds. The dishes would probably have an advantage in the amount of maintenance needed. I'm not sure which would have a lower capital cost and price per kilowatt, though. -- Kjkolb 11:23, 28 October 2006 (UTC)

Run a turbine?
In the description section it says the hot water at 90 degrees C can be used to run a turbine to generate electricity?? How on earth are you going to run a turbine at 90 C? Now that I think about it I'm so sure this is completely wrong I'm going to remove it. — Preceding unsigned comment added by 208.65.188.96 (talk) 01:45, 13 October 2006‎ (UTC)
 * It can power a turbine, so I have put it back. Things other than water can be used to power turbines. For low temperature applications, they use a fluid that will change phase at an appropriate temperature and pressure. This method is used for solar ponds, ocean thermal energy conversion and some geothermal plants. -- Kjkolb 11:23, 28 October 2006 (UTC)

Vandalism
This article was vandalized. Innapropriate language and irrelevant comments were removed. My advice to the person who did so: find something constructive to do, instead of messing around with other people's efforts.--Supra90 17:38, 5 January 2007 (UTC)

Section 2?
What's up with the garbage in section 2 (Advantages and....gibberish). I'd clean it up if I knew what it was supposed to say. --Grndrush (talk) 00:52, 23 May 2008 (UTC)

Applications of solar energy
applications of solar ponds —Preceding unsigned comment added by 117.200.163.244 (talk) 11:18, 5 January 2009 (UTC)

Technical error
The article reflects a fundamental misunderstanding of salinity gradients and their formation / maintenance. A body of salt water will not naturally stratify into layers of high density at the bottom and low density at the top. Salt ions are subject to diffusion, and the diffusion tends to produce a uniform concentration over time. It takes special arrangements to maintain the gradient.

There is (or was?) a statement here, and that I've seen elsewhere, to the effect that salinity gradient solar ponds "were not invented, they were discovered". I.e., they form naturally under the right conditions, and some of these natural salinity gradient ponds were discovered and investigated. That "sort of" true. Salinity gradient ponds do form naturally, but they're transient. They mostly form when fresh water floods a formerly dry salt pan. Crystaline salt at the bottom of the newly formed (or re-formed) lake will create a high salt concentration at the bottom, and it will take some time for the slow diffusion of salt to spread upward. A semi-permanent salt water lake, in a region that receives ocassional rains or an inflow of fresh water streams, will also support a natural gradient for some time.

For an engineered solar pond, it is essential to include some provision to offset natural diffusion. Water of intermediate salinity can be withdrawn from mid-level of the pond, while concentrated brine is injected at the bottom, and fresh or minimally brackish water is injected at the top. The flows required are small, as diffusion of salt ions is relatively slow. Agnostic Engineer (talk) 20:59, 15 September 2014 (UTC)

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External links modified (January 2018)
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