Abstract

With the objective of demonstrating the technical and economic viabilities of a hybrid solar energy system applied to hot water generation, a simulation of a parabolic trough power plant with an auxiliary electrical heater system is presented. This article reports the procedure to obtain the characteristic equation of the useful heat value when N parabolic troughs are operated in series; the equation takes into account the heat loss through the pipes and the use of a heat exchanger. Additionally, this work reports a theoretical case study of a hybrid system that supplies hot water via solar energy and an auxiliary electrical system. The solar fraction and the global efficiency of the hybrid solar power plant are calculated. Using the results from the simulation, a cost analysis of the hybrid solar power plant was done where the levelized cost of thermal power generated is obtained; this in turn shows that the levelized cost of a conventional electrical heater system is one and a half times more than that of the hybrid system.

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