The use of central receiver system (CRS) for electricity production promises to be one of the most viable options to replace fossil fuel power plants. Indeed, research and development activities on its basic subsystems have been booming rapidly since 1980s. This paper reviews the most important studies on the major components of central receiver solar thermal power plants including the heliostat field, the solar receiver and the power conversion system. After an overview of Concentrating Solar Power (CSP) technology, current status and applications of the CRSs are highlighted. Next, a detailed literature survey of existing design comprising optical, thermal and thermodynamic analysis, and techniques used to assess components have been arranged. This is followed by experimental investigations in which design concepts are established. The last section contains recent subsequent improvement of such key components as heliostat, receiver and hybrid solar gas turbine that are boosting in many R&D activities merging international collaboration during the past 30 years.

A review of studies on central receiver solar thermal power plants

The solar thermal power plant is one of the promising renewable energy options to substitute the increasing demand of conventional energy The cost per kW of solar power is higher and the overall efficiency of the system is lower In the present communication, a comprehensive literature review on the scenario of solar thermal power plants and its up-to-date technologies all over the world is presented Results of the technical and economical feasibility studies by researchers are reported in brief for further reference It is observed that the solar thermal power plants have come out of the experimental stage to commercial applications Case studies of typical 50 MW solar thermal power plants in the Indian climatic conditions at locations such as Jodhpur and Delhi is highlighted with the help of techno-economic model Different solar concentrator technologies (parabolic trough, parabolic dish and central power tower) for solar thermal power plants are compared economically It has been found that the parabolic dish concentrating solar Stirling engine power plant generate electricity at a lower unit cost than the other two solar technologies considering 30 years lifespan and 10% interest rate on investment

State-of-the-art of solar thermal power plants—A review

This paper reviews development in the field of solar thermochemical processing by considering experimental demonstrations, reactor technology development, thermodynamic, economic and life cycle analyses. The review then builds on these aspects and compares various solar thermochemical processes. Solar upgrading of carbon feed has been demonstrated on pilot scale. It is observed that for the thermochemical cycles, only iron and ceria based redox pair have been demonstrated on pilot scale. For industrial applications, solar thermochemical production of zinc, upgrading of landfill gas and organic waste have been demonstrated on pilot scale. However, long term performance data of these pilot plants is not reported in literature. Thermodynamic comparison reveals that the processes involving upgrading of carbon feed have energy and exergy efficiency at 50–90% and 46–48% respectively. Multistep thermochemical cycles operating at 900–1200 K have energy efficiency of 34–38%. Metal oxide redox pair based thermochemical cycles operating at 1900–2300 K have energy and exergy efficiencies of 12–32% and 20–36% respectively. Methane reforming and lime production processes have chemical efficiencies of 55% and 35% respectively and have demonstrated better performance than other solar thermochemical processes. A few processes like solar gasification of solid carbon feed have demonstrated lower chemical efficiency of around 10% even at pilot scale. The hydrogen production cost for solar upgrading of fossil fuels is estimated at 3.21–6.10$/kg and is lower than thermochemical cycles at 7.17–19.26$/kg and CSP driven electrolysis at 3.15–10.23$/kg. It is observed that there is limited actual data and significant uncertainty in cost. Under these circumstances, it is recommended that initial screening of processes be done by net energy, material and life cycle analysis.

A review of solar thermochemical processes

Integration between supercritical CO2 Brayton cycles and molten salt solar power towers: A review and a comprehensive comparison of different cycle layouts

Feihu Sun

Papers

Energy and exergy analysis of solar power tower plants

Accurate altitude-azimuth tracking angle formulas for a heliostat with mirror-pivot offset and other fixed geometrical errors

Dynamic test model for the transient thermal performance of parabolic trough solar collectors

A comparison of three test methods for determining the thermal performance of parabolic trough solar collectors

Analysis of optical and thermal factors' effects on the transient performance of parabolic trough solar collectors