Large-scale Solar Thermal Plants Research Articles

Techno-economic assessment of application of particle-based concentrated solar thermal systems in Australian industry

Australia has significant areas with high quality solar resources, but the requirement for large scale solar thermal plants to be financially competitive in the electricity market appears to have hindered uptake. Industrial use of heat provides an alternative route to market where the technology is not impacted by poor efficiencies in converting heat to electricity and an appropriate scale can be applied to the demands of a specific site. A re-examination of prior industrial energy use studies in Australia was used in combination with solar data and published data on industrial sites to identify three specific industrial sites for case studies. These sites were selected to cover applications in three industries with varying scale and temperature requirements. The primary solar technology selected utilizes a particle receiver on a tower with associated storage and heat exchanger for hot water/steam production or heating a gas reactor. The wide range of temperatures possible with this technology appears to be desirable for development of a general-purpose industrial heat system. Comparison with parabolic trough systems that are commercially available was conducted for cases where the required temperatures were appropriate. In all assessments, the optimized solar plant designs approach cost competitiveness with the estimated cost of natural gas purchase for the relevant locations and industrial scales. In smaller and lower temperature applications, parabolic trough systems are likely to be appropriate conventional choices, but the particle system exhibited a high degree of flexibility across multiple sites and applications, which is encouraging to future commercial application.

Low-Cost High Energy Density Material for Solar Thermal Heat Storage

A low-cost and enhanced thermal properties composite material for sensible heat storage in solar thermal energy storage applications is introduced. The proposed material is produced primarily for small scale solar thermal applications. However, it can be utilized for large scale solar thermal plants. The material has the advantages of high thermal conductivity and large energy storage density. The introduced material is composed of a mixture of cement and cast-iron particles. To obtain an optimal mixture, different samples of the material are prepared with different ratios of the cement-iron weights. The thermal conductivity of the produced samples is measured by using the linear heat conduction method. The specific heat capacity of the produced mixtures is calculated by using the Rule of the mixture. The obtained results show that the introduced material has a significant enhancement in thermal conductivity. Where, thermal conductivity as high as ~6.0 W/m.K and energy storage density as high as ~788 Joule/cm3 are achieved. The estimated volume energy density is ~89% higher than that of water. The produced material has the advantage of high energy volume density, being unhazardous, chemically stable, eco-friendly, easy to fabricate, and integrate with solar thermal energy systems and is a low-cost material.

National Incentive Programs for CSP – Lessons Learned

Acknowledging that Concentrated Solar Power (CSP) stands out among other renewable technologies for technical features such as dispatchability - through storage and hybridization - and its potential for higher macroeconomic impact on the local economy, national and regional governments have set up incentive programs to promote the development of large scale solar thermal plants in recent years. These support mechanisms have largely contributed to the rapid growth of the global market since 2007. While Spain and USA remain leaders, representing most of the current ∼2.5 GW in operation, other countries have emerged within a short time as very ambitious players.In our research, we reviewed some of the most relevant national incentive programs introduced worldwide: Spain, India, South Africa, Morocco and Australia. The paper will give an overview of the mechanics of the different markets, covering key aspects such as: capacity allocation, phases and timelines, qualification criteria, technical and financial requirements, local content requirements, etc, and how these elements affected competition, tariffs and the global outcome of the programs.The lessons learned from the analysis constitute a useful set of guidelines for policy makers and developers, and could contribute to the design of future effective support mechanisms that will pave the way for the further uptake of CSP technologies.The research presented in the paper has been undertaken in the framework of a technical assistance to the Ministry of New and Renewable Energy of India on the preparation of the Utility Scale Concentrated Solar Power Program.

Financing of Large Solar Thermal Systems for Cooling and Process Heat

To put solar thermal energy back into the briefings of investors, executives and financial officers, SOLID has proven that financing of large scale solar thermal plants has controllable risks and strong return.