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Concentrated solar power plants are based on the conversion of sunlight into electricity using mirrors and tracking systems to focus a large area of sunlight into a small beam. Solar thermal electric energy generation concentrates the light from the sun to create heat, and that heat is used to run a steam turbine, which in turns a generator to make...
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... all the mirrors in such a field are controlled by a single computer. The components of a heliostat are given below: Figure 6.1 A heliostat mirror 6.1 Drive Components: These include azimuth and elevation gear, motor drives, and all linkages. Based upon the historical structural performance and costs for a heliostat system, the drive unit is both the main cost driver, as well as the most likely component to fail. ...
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Due to their high relatively cost of solar electric energy systems. They have yet to be exploited on a widespread basis. Concentrate Solar Power CSP requires high solar insolation, high tracking power, high foundation cost, high structure cost, high reflector cost, large area of solar field, and high solar engine cost. Solar Power is not stable as...
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... Two currently non-operational power dish plants that have not used any storage system are the Toole army depot and the Maricopa Solar Project both in the US. For a better performance is solar thermal plants, proper understanding of thermophysical properties of storage materials is important especially such properties as: melting point, conductivity, latent heat of fusion, specific heat capacity (SHC), subcooling and solidification, repeatability, low or non-corrosive nature, density, stability, compatibility with container materials and cost [71][72][73]. In solar thermal power plants, due to high temperatures, most of the materials used for storage have higher melting points, higher conductivity and others in the same manner [74]. ...
Supply of energy in sufficient quantity and quality while sustaining the environment is one of the key strategies of human development adopted by most countries and the United Nations at large. This makes solar energy a strong candidate in achieving the aim of sustainable development goals and thus many countries launched several researches towards harnessing and utilisation of solar energy in different forms. Electricity generation using photovoltaic systems have over the years becomes the most successful applications of solar energy and solar thermal systems are also gaining grounds in many countries especially Spain and United States. With their variable designs with at least a design suiting any environment at variable cost, the potential for concentrated solar power development globally is high especially in areas with high solar insolation. Similarly, solar energy storage was reviewed visa-vis the challenges associated with it giving much emphasis on the thermal storage component. This paper also reviews the developments in the field of solar energy technology applications with reference to some case studies of some plants. Finally, the various policies employed through international bodies such as United Nations and some adopted by individual countries were highlighted. It was concluded that concentrated solar power is one of the promising renewable energy technologies that will meet the needs of man.
This research paper aims to propose a through-life cost analysis model for estimating the profitability of renewable concentrated solar power (CSP) technologies. The financial outputs of the model include net present value (NPV) and benefit-cost ratio (BCR) of the project, internal rate of return (IRR) and discounted payback period (DPBP) of the investment, and levelized cost of energy (LCoE) from the CSP technology. The meteorological data for a specific location in the city of Tucson in Arizona is collected from a network of automated weather stations, and the NREL System Advisor Model (SAM) is applied to simulate hourly energy output of the CSP plant. An Excel spreadsheet tool is designed to calculate, in a bottom-up approach, the financial metrics required for approval of CSP projects. The model is tested on a 50MW parabolic trough CSP plant and the results show an annual energy production of 456,351,232 kWh, NPV of over $64 million and LCoE of 0.16 $/kWh. Finally, a sensitivity analysis is performed to identify the factors which have the most significant effect on the economic performance of CSP technologies. The proposed model can provide valuable guidance to support the strategic planning and investment decision-making in CSP projects.
