“MOSAIC”, A new CSP plant concept for the highest concentration ratios at the lowest cost

Abstract

The MOSAIC project aims to develop a commercial CSP plant concept over 1GW nominal capacity. High nominal capacity is reached in a modular way, where each MOSAIC module delivers thermal energy to connected thermal energy storage systems that supply their energy to a high capacity power block (>1GW). This modular configuration significantly reduces the specific cost of the power block (€/MW installed). Each MOSAIC module consists of an innovative fixed spherical mirror concentrator arranged in the form of a semi-Fresnel and a moving receiver driven by a low-cost cable tracking system. This configuration reduces the amount of moving parts of the entire system, lowering the cost of the solar field and keeping high concentration ratios. This will ensure high working temperatures and therefore high cycle efficiencies and cost-effective use of thermal storage systems. Energy from the sun is collected, concentrated and transferred to the heat transfer fluid at module level, where, due to the modular concept, the distances from the solar concentrator to the receiver are much shorter than in typical solar tower technologies. As a result, energy collection efficiency is maximized, atmospheric attenuation is minimized, and precision requirements can be lowered. All these technical benefits can contribute to a lower capital cost of the whole system, while ensuring efficiency and reliability. This therefore has a strong impact on the final cost of electricity production.SolarPACES 2018 AIP Conf. Proc. 2126, 060008-1-060008-9; https://doi.

Low-Cost Solar Electricity Using Stationary Solar Fields; Technology Potential and Practical Implementation Challenges to Be Overcome. Outcomes from H2020 MOSAIC Project

“…A key parameter to define in order to optimize an SRTA is its tilt angle, which depends mainly on the latitude where it will be installed. As presented in a previous study [7], most interesting latitudes are above 30 • , which can lead to rather high tilt angles in other to minimize cosine effect.…”

“…This places higher requirements on the tracking system, which makes the system more expensive. On the other hand, in the morning or afternoon, the system provides less energy [7]. Therefore, the workspace has been optimized for latitudes between 30 • and 40 • discarding non-economic positions.…”

“…Details of the design process and the models developed will be included in [27]. As shown in [7], the solar flux incident on the surface of the receiver is very uneven and varies throughout the day and from one day to another. However, unlike tower power plants, where the flux distribution on the receiver has high uncertainty, the SRTA solar field is fixed, and the theoretical flux distribution is known in advance.…”

“…Most of the costs of high-concentration solar technologies come from the solar field and especially from the sophisticated tracking systems needed [6]. The MOSAIC project [7] proposes a new plant configuration that provides high concentration ratios, even though it proposes a fixed solar field with great potential for reducing its costs. Furthermore, it proposes to group several of these concentration units in a modular plant, which would provide additional advantages.…”