http://www.newenergyworldnetwork.com/renewable-energy-news/by-technology/solar-by-technology-renewable-energy-news/solarlite-tests-solar-thermal-power-plant-in-southeast-asia.html

Solarlite, a German solar trough company based in West Meckelburg, has announced the development of the successful down-scaling of concentrated solar power (CSP) technology.

Using a new method called Direct Steam Drive (DSG) the company has been able to demonstrate that the CSP technology can be applied on a much smaller scale.
According to the company until now CSP has required a plant to be capable of producing 50MWe, in order to function economically.
The larger size has meant that more land has to be found to exploit this technology. However, with the advent of the DSG application, Solarlite will be able to find smaller areas to deploy the technology successfully. The design of the parabolic troughs has also been targeted at using light weight materials and composites meaning that there is only very minimal use of steel.
The technology has been tested in Germany and Vietnam, and has according to the company already met with the approval of certain financial institutions.
Solarlite has also delivered one complete project for its client Thai Solar Energy.
This change in the technology’s application was developed as a result of Thailand’s Very Small Power Producer (VSPP) regulations that forced a limitation on the capacity of a plant to 10MW. When the plant goes into operation the Thai Solar will gain from 8baht/Kwh for the next 10 years. After this period the electricity will be sold for 2-3baht/KWh, however this is currently under discussion.