2. Concentrated solar power (CSP)
Sustainable and Reliable
Low operating cost, High initial installation cost
Less CO2 emissions
Can be Hybrid
Dispatchable
Larger Area
Maintenance
3. How does it operate?
• It uses mirrors (collectors) to reflect the sunlight and focus it
on a receiver.
• The receiver converts the sunlight energy to heat energy.
• The heat is exchanged in a second loop to produce hot
steam.
• The hot steam expands in the turbine, causing it to produce
shaft work which operates the generator to produce
electricity.
6. 1. Parabolic Trough
• These solar collectors use mirrored
parabolic troughs to focus the sun's
energy to a fluid-carrying absorber
(receiver) tube located at the focal point
of reflector.
• The energy from the sun sent to the
tube heat oil flowing through the tube,
and the heat energy is then used to
generate electricity in a conventional
steam generator.
7.
8.
9. 2. Central Receiver Systems
• Central receiver system(or power towers) is composed of five
main components: heliostats, receiver, heat transport and
exchange, thermal storage, and controls.
• Central receivers use thousands of individual sun-tracking
mirrors called to reflect solar energy onto a receiver located on
top of tall tower.
• The receiver collects the sun's heat in a heat-transfer fluid
(molten salt) that flows through the receiver. The salt's heat
energy is then used to make steam to generate electricity in a
conventional steam generator, located at the foot of the
tower.
10.
11.
12.
13. 3. Dish/Engine systems
• A dish/engine system is usually a standalone unit composed
primarily of a collector, a receiver, and an engine.
• In this type the receiver is mounted above the dish shaped
collector at the dish center.
16. 4. Linear Fresnel
• LFRs approximate the parabolic shape of
trough systems but use long rows of flat
or slightly curved mirrors to reflect the
sun’s rays onto a downward-facing
linear, fixed receiver. (see the adjacent
figure).
• The main disadvantage of LFRs is that
they have low efficiency. This is because
they are fixed (NO Tracking).
• They are less expensive than troughs but
less effective when the sun is low.
17. • Fixed receivers allow higher pressures and thus facilitate the
direct heating of water, a process known as direct steam
generation technology. This can eliminate the need for a heat-
transfer fluid and exchanger.
• The last point is considered as an advantage of the LFRs
because it makes it less costly to install since there is no heat
exchanger.
• Less land is needed in the Linear Fresnel technology in
compare with other types. This is because the reflectors could
be installed next to each other, and this is another advantage.
22. Storage system
• In order to enhance the reliability of the CSP, an efficient
storage system for heat energy is required.
• These storage systems can be used to supply heat when the
CSP fails to supply heat in the cases of cloudy weather or at
night time.
• The most used material in heat storage systems is molten salt.
• The salt is simply an environmentally friendly mixture of
sodium nitrate and potassium nitrate. They can also be made
of Fluoride (LiF) or Sodium tetrafluoroborate (NaBF4).
• The molten salt storage system retains heat efficiently, so it
can be stored for hours or even days before being used to
generate electricity.
• Heat loss could be only 1⁰F per day.
23. • It is stored at 1050⁰F (566⁰C) until electricity is
needed – day or night, whether or not the sun is
shining.
• As electricity is needed, molten salt is dispatched
from the hot tank through a heat exchanger to
create super-heated steam which then powers a
conventional steam turbine.
• It never needs replacing or topping up for the entire
30+ year life of the plant.
• The tanks stores the salt at atmospheric pressure.
