POWER builds on its Brayton cycle, hot-gas-path technical capability as a core competency. The solar thermal systems lend themselves to hybrid solutions that result in higher efficiencies and improve the economics of the solar field by allowing more power to be made with the same solar input.

There are several solutions worthy of consideration, and POWER can optimize around each. The optimal solution is dependent on the characteristics of the thermal energy delivered from the solar system. The options include:

1. Steam produced from the solar system added to the HRSG to produce additional power in the steam turbine of a combustion gas turbine combined cycle plant.
2. Steam produced from the solar system added to the steam injection steam for a combustion gas turbine SCC+ plant.
3. Solar energy to produce preheated combustion air for a simplified combined cycle system.

The economic viabilities for these solar hybrid options are dependent on the temperature, pressure and flow of energy from the solar system, and the gas turbine selected. A huge advantage of the hybrid is that the infrastructure built to deliver power can now be used on a dispatchable basis, making the power plant much more valuable to the grid.