An optimization tool to design the field of a solar power tower plant allowing heliostats of different sizes

Carrizosa, Emilio; Domínguez-Bravo, C.; Fernández-Cara, Enrique; Quero, M.

doi:10.1002/er.3684

Cited by 15 publications

(13 citation statements)

References 42 publications

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“…The STP structure consists of multiple tracking mirrors (i.e., heliostats) that are situated in a field adjoining the external receivers of the STP [31][32]. These structures allow a high energy concentration compared to the linear (plane) structures [33].…”

Section: Heliostat Fieldmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Hence, the external receiver and the heliostat field should be investigated together for maximising the thermal efficiency and decreasing the heliostat field costs [35]. One needs to understand the mechanisms which affect the heliostat performance for determining the ideal system, as the size and the position of the receiver was an important factor that could affect the heliostat field or vice-versa [31]. The heliostat was affected by the fenestration geometrical factors like external solar shading, despite its flexible weight, height, or shape (spherical/circular).…”

Section: Heliostat Fieldmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…The optimisation of the solar fields with the heliostats of differing sizes was investigated earlier, and has been described in Table 3 [31]. However, many researchers have debated the application of a single heliostat size (Table 3), though it was used in numerous studies since the solar flux distribution and density can be easily measured using a single heliostat field (Table 3).…”

Section: Effect Of the Heat Flux On The External Receivermentioning

confidence: 99%

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Solar Tower Power: The Impact of External Receiver on Optimal Performance and Energy Storage

Shatnawi,

Lim,

Ismail

2019

IJEAT

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An external receiver was seen as a major component of the Solar Tower Power (STP) plant. This generated stable power from concentrated sunlight. However, the flux distribution on its surface was an issue related to the external receiver that could affect the performance and energy storage in STP. The heat flux increased during long-term use, failure reduction, receiver efficiency and performance. The main advantage of the STP structure was its substantial heat storage capacity which allowed the system to generate stable and continuous electric power. In this study, the researchers reviewed existing literature to investigate the effect of the STP external receiver on the optimum energy storage and performance of the STP; especially regarding the solar flux distribution and efficiency. The researchers aim to improve the external receiver’s optimal performance without affecting the incident heat fluxes. The literature review indicates that ideal receiver conditions lead to solar energy flux distribution optimal performance. Therefore, system optimisation was necessary to satisfy all limitations; like loss occurring due to heliostat field, solar flux flow patterns, external tubular receiver designs, and Heat Transfer Fluid (HTF) selection. These limitations, along with factors affecting these limitations, are reviewed in this study.

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Section: Heliostat Fieldmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Heliostat Fieldmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Effect Of the Heat Flux On The External Receivermentioning

confidence: 99%

See 1 more Smart Citation

Solar Tower Power: The Impact of External Receiver on Optimal Performance and Energy Storage

Shatnawi,

Lim,

Ismail

2019

IJEAT

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“…In a similar vein, Mohammed Aldulaimi and MS Soylemez [14] suggested a new heliostat field layout arrangement by identifying heliostats with low optical efficiency and increasing their heights in a bid to curb blocking losses and hence increase the total annual field efficiency. Emilo Carrizosa [18] also suggested some alterations in the field by considering a field with different heliostat sizes. Mani Yousefpour Lazardjan [19] presented a tool developed at Solar-Insitut Julich (SIJ) primarily for the optimization of a novel micro-heliostat concept.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Numerical Simulation and Design of Multi-Tower Concentrated Solar Power Fields

2020

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In power tower systems, the heliostat field is one of the essential subsystems in the plant due to its significant contribution to the plant's overall power losses and total plant investment cost. The design and optimization of the heliostat field is hence an active area of research, with new field improvement processes and configurations being actively investigated. In this paper, a different configuration of a multi-tower field is explored. This involves adding an auxiliary tower to the field of a conventional power tower Concentrated Solar Power (CSP) system. The choice of the position of the auxiliary tower was based on the region in the field which has the least effective reflecting heliostats. The multi-tower configuration was initially applied to a 50 MWth conventional field in the case study region of Nigeria. The results from an optimized field show a marked increase in the annual thermal energy output and mean annual efficiency of the field. The biggest improvement in the optical efficiency loss factors be seen from the cosine, which records an improvement of 6.63%. Due to the size of the field, a minimal increment of 3020 MWht in the Levelized Cost of Heat (LCOH) was, however, recorded. In much larger fields, though, a higher number of weaker heliostats were witnessed in the field. The auxiliary tower in the field provides an alternate aim point for the weaker heliostat, thereby considerably cutting down on some optical losses, which in turn gives rise to higher energy output. At 400 MWth, the multi-tower field configuration provides a lower LCOH than the single conventional power tower field.

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“…An ideal maximum power point tracker should be able to find the optimum operation point with respect to the non‐linear nature of the I‐V curve under the parameter limitation . It should be noted that adding these new features to the solar PV panels system is highly dependent on the size and geographical location of the system along with other specifications of the hybrid network …”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

A multi-predictor model to estimate solar and wind energy generations

et al. 2017

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Summary Recent technological developments in renewable energy systems and significant growth of solar and wind energy have made these 2 renewable sources potential viable alternatives for conventional energy sources. However, due to intermittent nature, their reliability and availability are not similar to traditional sources. Hence, it is crucial to estimate the solar and wind availability and contribution more accurately. There are various factors affecting the generation capacity of renewable sources. There has been a vast research on the impact of factors related to climate condition such as wind speed, air temperature, and humidity on renewable energy generation. However, there are several other factors with indirect impact on renewable capacity and generation mostly overshadowed by the climate factors. In this study, a multi‐predictor regression model is developed and presented for solar and wind energy generation capacity across the USA. Our study of 50 states shows how the generation capacity can be affected by several indexes including human development index. Variables with the more significant impacts have been chosen using a regression analysis. A recommendation on the best transformation of the response variables and sensitivity analysis of the results has also been presented. The results provide a model to estimate the generation capacity using significant predictors. For instance, the impact of population growth on the wind turbine generation can be explored using these models.

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An optimization tool to design the field of a solar power tower plant allowing heliostats of different sizes

Cited by 15 publications

References 42 publications

Solar Tower Power: The Impact of External Receiver on Optimal Performance and Energy Storage

Solar Tower Power: The Impact of External Receiver on Optimal Performance and Energy Storage

Numerical Simulation and Design of Multi-Tower Concentrated Solar Power Fields

A multi-predictor model to estimate solar and wind energy generations

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