Large Concentrated Solar Power Research Articles

CSP clustering in unit commitment for power system production cost modeling

The power system planning requires the simulation of unit commitment (UC) for long time periods up to multiple years or decades which is conducted with production cost modeling (PCM) and usually ends up solving a number of mixed integer programming problems. The development of concentrating solar power (CSP) raises the computational burden of PCM dramatically due to its complex structural and operational characteristics, small unit capacity and large unit number. To improve the PCM efficiency for power systems with large scale CSP generation, a CSP clustering method is proposed based on a novel CSP unit model where the startup and heat accumulation process is considered to simulate CSP operation properly and avoid infeasible operation schemes. In the CSP clustering method, a series of CSP units are modelled in clusters and the numerous binary variables are replaced by integer ones. The number of the variables can be greatly reduced and so is the problem scale. The case studies on the modified IEEE-RTS 1979 have verified the validity and effectiveness of the proposed model and method. The CSP clustering method well outperforms the aggregated unit model which is introduced for comparison. The solution time for the UC with CSP is dramatically reduced (even by 1–2 orders of magnitude) with high accuracy especially the generation cost whose deviation is usually below 0.1%. The proposed method shows great potential in power system planning and operation with large-scale CSP generation.

Fixed Nadir Focus Concentrated Solar Power Applying Reflective Array Tracking Method

The Sun is one of the most potential renewable energy develoPMent to be utilized, one of its utilization is for solar thermal concentrators, CSP (Concentrated Solar Power). In CSP energy conversion, the concentrator is as moving the object by tracking the sunlight to reach the focus point. This method need quite energy consumption, because the unit of the concentrators has considerable weight, and use large CSP, means the existence of the usage unit will appear to be wider and heavier. The addition of weight and width of the unit will increase the torque to drive the concentrator and hold the wind gusts. One method to reduce energy consumption is direct the sunlight by the reflective array to nadir through CSP with Reflective Fresnel Lens concentrator. The focus will be below the nadir direction, and the position of concentrator will be fixed position even the angle of the sun’s elevation changes from morning to afternoon. So, the energy concentrated maximally, because it has been protected from wind gusts. And then, the possibility of dAMage and changes in focus construction will not occur. The research study and simulation of the reflective array (mechanical method) will show the reflective angle movement. The distance between reflectors and their angle are controlled by mechatronics. From the simulation using fresnel 1m2, and efficiency of solar energy is 60.88%. In restriction, the intensity of sunlight at the tropical circles 1KW/peak, from 6 AM until 6 PM.

Reducing Solar Dish Park Production Volatility Utilizing Lithium-ion Batteries

Solar dish-Stirling technology is the Concentrated Solar Power (CSP) technology that can be more easily integrated into Distribution networks due to its small size. However, a disadvantage of this technology is that features shorter thermal inertia and thus, the output is more volatile compared to large scale CSP plants. In this paper, the production of a solar dish-Stirling plant connected to a battery bank forming a Hybrid plant is studied, in order to determine up to what extent the production stabilization can be achieved. A modelling approach of the electricity output of a solar dish system integrated to a lithium-ion battery, is developed. A methodology based on the minimization of the mean square error between the actual and the proposed stabilized production is presented, in order to optimally size the battery bank. Results from the application of the Hybrid plant for typical days of various seasons prove the output capability of such a configuration and the guaranteed power amount of the relevant plant, along with the addition of volatility decrease.

Construction of a Test Facility for Demonstration of a Liquid Lead-bismuth-cooled 10kW Thermal Receiver in a Solar Furnace Arrangement - SOMMER

Abstract Liquid metals have been proposed in the past as high temperature heat transfer media in concentrating solar power (CSP) systems. Until the mid 80s test facilities were operated with liquid sodium-cooled central receivers. After a period of reduced interest in that approach, several new efforts have been reported recently, particularly from the US, South Africa and Australia. In addition, several recent publications have highlighted the attractive properties of liquid metals for CSP applications. A new contribution to this topic has been launched by Karlsruhe Institute of Technology (KIT) and the Solar Institute of the German Aerospace Center (DLR), combining their experience in CSP and liquid metal technology. The overall goals of this project are planning, design, construction and operation of a small concentrating solar power system in the 10 kW thermal range (named SOMMER) using liquid metal as heat transfer fluid for re-gaining operation experience and validating design methodology and providing a complete design concept for a large pilot CSP plant based on liquid metal technology, up to evaluation of O&M cost and levelized cost of electricity. This paper describes the current status of the work on the design and setup of SOMMER, the research goals of this facility, first results of numerical activities in view of the liquid metal cooled receiver design and the connection to the design activities for the pilot plant.

Preliminary thermoeconomic analysis of combined parabolic trough solar power and desalination plant in port Safaga (Egypt)

The development of society is strongly dependent on water and electricity. There is an increasing water and energy demand driven by population growth and rising industrial and agricultural production. The combination of concentrated solar power (CSP) and desalination processes has a huge potential for producing both energy and water in arid regions suffering from fresh water scarcity and facing the current energy challenge. One of the regions is Middle East and North Africa (MENA), where plans are currently under discussion to make possible large CSP plants developments. The integration of desalination (CSP+D) into solar power plants could make CSP technology even more attractive in such regions. The focus of this study is thermodynamic characterization and an economic evaluation of different configurations for coupling parabolic trough solar power plants and desalination facilities at a MENA location in Egypt chosen as reference for its Southern coast (Port Safaga). The desalination technologies considered for the combination with parabolic trough concentrating solar power plants (PT-CSP), are low temperature multi-effect distillation (LT-MED) and reverse osmosis (RO). Moreover, an additional concept of LT-MED has been evaluated: a LT-MED powered by the steam obtained from a thermal vapor compressor (TVC). In this case, unlike the conventional thermal vapor compression process (TVC-MED), the entrained vapor to be used in the ejector comes from the exhaust steam from the low pressure (LP) turbine instead of an effect of the MED unit. In order to optimize this latter concept (LT-MED-TVC), different configuration schemes have been studied. When thermodynamic efficiencies and costs are analyzed comparing the two more efficient configurations (PT-CSP/RO and PT-CSP/LT-MED), considering 58°C/0.18 bar of exhaust turbine steam conditions and 5.5 kWh/m3 of RO power requirements, initial results are very similar.

Desert solar hubs not new but risky

An item by Toni Feder titled “Scientists help make deserts into solar-energy hubs” (PHYSICS TODAY, July 2011, page 21) refers to upcoming implementations of concentrated solar power (CSP) technology as pilot projects. However, nearly 100 years ago, Philadelphia scientist Frank Shuman applied the CSP concept to a system he built in Meadi, Egypt. He used reflective troughs to power a steam engine that operated a pump to bring irrigation water to the desert. Along with his pilot project, “by 1914, Shuman was talking of building 20 000 square miles of collector in the Sahara”11. B. Everett, in Renewable Energy: Power for a Sustainable Future, 2nd ed., G. Boyle, ed.,Oxford U. Press, New York (2004), p. 53. for producing energy from the Sun. Although CSP components have improved since then, old photographs of Shuman’s facility in Egypt look remarkably like the one on the July 2011 cover of PHYSICS TODAY.Since there are conflicting views on the job-creating potential of renewable energy, scientists promoting solar-energy hubs in the desert might want to review the findings of reference 22. G. C. Álvarez, R. Merino Jara, J. R. Rallo Julián, Study of the Effects on Employment of Public Aid to Renewable Energy Sources, King Juan Carlos University, Móstoles, Spain (March 2009), available at http://www.juandemariana.org/pdf/090327-employment-public-aid-renewable.pdf. , which makes the following claim: Europe’s current policy and strategy for supporting the so-called “green jobs” or renewable energy dates back to 1997, and has become one of the principal justifications for U.S. “green jobs” proposals. Yet an examination of Europe’s experience reveals these policies to be terribly economically counterproductive. But then review the follow-up report by Eric Lantz and Suzanne Tegen, which claims that the methodology used by Gabriel Calzada Álvarez and colleagues “does not reflect an employment impact analysis.”33. E. Lantz, S. Tegen, NREL Response to the Report Study of the Effects on Employment of Public Aid to Renewable Energy Sources from King Juan Carlos University (Spain), white paper no. NREL/TP-6A2-46261, National Renewable Energy Laboratory, Golden, CO (August 2009), available at http://www.nrel.gov/docs/fy09osti/46261.pdf. Attention should also be paid to the termination of large CSP projects. For example, a proposed 290-megawatt CSP plant for Arizona Public Service was terminated in 2009 because Lockheed Martin Corp “decided not to go forward with the project due to the size and the final risk profile of the EPC [engineering, procurement, and construction] contract, among other factors.”44. Reuters, 1 October 2009, http://www.reuters.com/article/2009/10/01/utilities-operations-aps-solar-idusn0128639320091001. Are water supplies in the desert adequate for the operation of CSP? Can the deserts provide—locally or through importation—the water resources needed to sustain CSP plants without denying desert inhabitants the water they need for survival? To reduce water usage for CSP, we could use dry-cooling instead of wet-cooling towers, but even with dry cooling, will the water resources be sufficient for the total steam cycle and for cleaning mirrors?Gerhard Knies’s hopes for CSP in deserts, like Shuman’s a century ago, are admirable. But Knies’s prophecy that “the transfer from fossil fuel to renewable energy will become the biggest business of the future” is reminiscent of other grossly inaccurate energy-related predictions. For example, Lewis Strauss claimed more than 50 years ago that atomic power was the answer to energy problems and that it would make “electricity too cheap to meter.”55. S. M. Cohn, Too Cheap to Meter: An Economic and Philosophical Analysis of the Nuclear Dream SUNY Press, Albany, NY (1997), p. 107. History shows that such claims should be made with considerable caution.Frank Shuman's solar collector, built in 1908 in Meadi, Egypt. (Courtesy of Tacony Historical Society.)PPT|High resolutionREFERENCESSection:ChooseTop of pageREFERENCES <<1. B. Everett, in Renewable Energy: Power for a Sustainable Future, 2nd ed., G. Boyle, ed.,Oxford U. Press, New York (2004), p. 53. Google Scholar2. G. C. Álvarez, R. Merino Jara, J. R. Rallo Julián, Study of the Effects on Employment of Public Aid to Renewable Energy Sources, King Juan Carlos University, Móstoles, Spain (March 2009), available at http://www.juandemariana.org/pdf/090327-employment-public-aid-renewable.pdf. Google Scholar3. E. Lantz, S. Tegen, NREL Response to the Report Study of the Effects on Employment of Public Aid to Renewable Energy Sources from King Juan Carlos University (Spain), white paper no. NREL/TP-6A2-46261, National Renewable Energy Laboratory, Golden, CO (August 2009), available at http://www.nrel.gov/docs/fy09osti/46261.pdf. Google ScholarCrossref4. Reuters, 1 October 2009, http://www.reuters.com/article/2009/10/01/utilities-operations-aps-solar-idusn0128639320091001. Google Scholar5. S. M. Cohn, Too Cheap to Meter: An Economic and Philosophical Analysis of the Nuclear Dream SUNY Press, Albany, NY (1997), p. 107. Google Scholar© 2011 American Institute of Physics.

Holding a candle to innovation in concentrating solar power technologies: A study drawing on patent data

Improved understanding of the innovative pathways of renewable energy technologies is vital if we are to make the transition to a low carbon economy. This study presents new evidence on innovation and industry dynamics in concentrating solar power (CSP) technologies. Though CSP is undergoing a renaissance, existing innovation studies have explored innovative activity in solar technologies in general, ignoring the major differences between solar photovoltaic and CSP technologies. This study, based on patent data, examines the level and dynamics of innovative activity in CSP between 1978 and 2004. Our unique contribution, based on engineering expertise and detailed datawork, is a classification system mapping CSP technologies to the International Patent Classification (IPC) system. The innovation performance of CSP is found to be surprisingly weak compared to the patent boom in other green technologies. Performance was strong around 1980 before falling dramatically, and has only recently begun to show signs of recovery. Innovation and R&D are concentrated in high-tech countries; the US, Germany and Japan, which do not necessarily have high domestic CSP potential. Large CSP potential is, therefore, not a sufficient condition for innovation. Innovators must possess economic and scientific capabilities.

GIS assessment of large CSP plant in Duqum, Oman

Abstract This paper discusses solar power prospects in Wilayat Duqum in Oman. First, the geographic and topographic information about the selected region is presented. The methodology of producing solar radiation map for Duqum using GIS tools is then presented. The results obtained show very high potential of solar radiation over Wilayat Duqum during the whole year. A slope analysis has allowed calculating the yearly electricity generation potential for different concentrated solar power (CSP) technologies such as the parabolic trough, parabolic dish, tower, and concentrated PV. Based on the development plan of the Duqum region, and the topologies of the land areas in the region, it is suggested that, for the CSP technologies requiring large amount of water for washing the mirrors, the selected area is a flat land (slope

Temperatures and rates of reduction of PbO 2, Pb 3O 4, and PbO by hydrogen and carbon monoxide

Liquid metals have been proposed in the past as high temperature heat transfer media in concentrating solar power (CSP) systems. Until the mid 80s test facilities were operated with liquid sodium-cooled central receivers. After a period of reduced interest in that approach, several new efforts have been reported recently, particularly from the US, South Africa and Australia. In addition, several recent publications have highlighted the attractive properties of liquid metals for CSP applications. A new contribution to this topic has been launched by Karlsruhe Institute of Technology (KIT) and the Solar Institute of the German Aerospace Center (DLR), combining their experience in CSP and liquid metal technology. The overall goals of this project are planning, design, construction and operation of a small concentrating solar power system in the 10 kW thermal range (named SOMMER) using liquid metal as heat transfer fluid for re-gaining operation experience and validating design methodology and providing a complete design concept for a large pilot CSP plant based on liquid metal technology, up to evaluation of O&M cost and levelized cost of electricity. This paper describes the current status of the work on the design and setup of SOMMER, the research goals of this facility, first results of numerical activities in view of the liquid metal cooled receiver design and the connection to the design activities for the pilot plant.