Abstract
ABSTRACTThis study presents a techno-economic comparison of four alternatives (experimental prototype of concentrating solar power tower system, photovoltaic (PV) system, collapsible vertical axis wind turbine and diesel generator) to supply electrical energy for a small compound of buildings. Among the services needed in the compound are the provision of an adequate drinking water, health centre for immunization purposes, and learning centre. The result of this study shows that the amount of electrical energy needed to meet the basic power requirements is 7.3 kWh/day. Detailed analysis and design requirements of the four alternatives are presented. Dynamic indicators (life cycle cost, annualized life cycle cost and cost of energy production) were applied to evaluate the economic-effectiveness of these energy supply systems. The cost of energy was $1.06/kWh, $1.18/kWh, $1.19/kWh and $2.98/kWh for the PV system, solar power tower system, diesel generator system and wind turbine system, respectively. Providing electricity to the compound buildings using solar power tower and PV systems is very beneficial and competitive among the other types of energy sources.
Highlights
Attempts are ongoing to preserve the energy and to alter energy production at differing range scales of renewable energy sources
Life cycle of the PV system components was considered as 20 years except for the batteries, which was taken as a 5 years it depends on the discharging and discharging of the battery
It is concluded from this investigation that the PV system on a small scale is a cost-effective system and competitive with other approaches to produce electricity
Summary
Attempts are ongoing to preserve the energy and to alter energy production at differing range scales of renewable energy sources. A solar tower power plant as a means for converting solar energy into electricity is mentioned widely in the literature. The possible usage of concentrating solar power plant technology was assessed by many researchers [1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8]. Five main components comprise an energy block of a central receiver system: thermal storage tanks; heat transfer fluid; heliostats; receiver and control. Mirrors called heliostats are used in such plants to redirect the solar rays during the daylight to a solar receiver placed on top of a steel tower. Heliostats are controlled by computers to keep their reflective surface perpendicular to the divider of the angle between the directions of the sun and the target as seen from the mirror [4, 9, 10]
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