Techno-environ-economic assessment of photovoltaic and CSP with storage systems in China and Egypt under various climatic conditions

Abstract

The goal of this research is to conduct a techno-environ-economic assessment of the two primary electrical energy generation technologies-photovoltaic and concentrating solar power with the storage system. The comparative technical analysis is based on solar to electrical efficiency, electrical output, capacity utilization factor, and land use factor, whereas the financial comparison considers factors like net present value, net capital cost, levelized cost of electricity, payback period, and greenhouse gas emission. The present simulation is carried out utilizing System Advisor Model software. The findings show that while installing photovoltaic power plants in China is the ideal option, establishing concentrating solar power plants in Egyptian meteorological conditions is the optimum alternative. Moreover, the results indicate that by comparing the best scenario for a photovoltaic plant with the best scenario for a concentrated solar power plant, the latter generates 33.34% more electricity. The findings also demonstrate that concentrated solar power plants use 48.7% of their capacity utilization factor, as opposed to photovoltaic plants, which only use 29.2% of their capacity utilization factor. Furthermore, the results imply the ability of concentrated solar power and photovoltaic to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 98.1% and 95.8%, respectively.