Controllable and affordable utility-scale electricity from intermittent wind resources and compressed air energy storage (CAES)

Analysis of a novel solar energy-powered Rankine cycle for combined power and heat generation using supercritical carbon dioxide

This article reviews some recent developments in thermodynamic cycles as well as new and innovative thermal power cycles applicable to solar thermal power

Solar Thermal Power Technology: Present Status and Ideas for the Future

https://www.ep.liu.se/ecp/057/vol14/020/ecp57vol14_020.pdf

Economic implications of thermal energy storage for concentrated solar thermal power

Solar tracking is used in large grid-connected photovoltaic plants to maximise solar radiation collection and, hence, to reduce the cost of delivered electricity. In particular, single vertical axis tracking, also called azimuth tracking, allows for energy gains up to 40%, compared with optimally tilted fully static arrays. This paper examines the theoretical aspects associated with the design of azimuth tracking, taking into account shadowing between different trackers and back-tracking features. Then, the practical design of the trackers installed at the 1.4 MW Tudela PV plant is presented and discussed. Finally, this tracking alternative is compared with the more conventional fully stationary approach. Copyright © 2002 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/pdf/10.1002/pip.442

Design of tracking photovoltaic systems with a single vertical axis

Significant progress has been made in developing economically competitive solar-thermal electric technologies. During the early 1980s, several important pilot plants were constructed and successfully operated, thus establishing the technology`s feasibility. Today more than 350 mega-watts of electricity are generated by commercial solar-thermal plants in the US, and the experience gained from those plants, in addition to research and development activities, has helped reduce the cost of solar-thermal systems to one-fifth that of the early pilot plants. Continued technological improvements are likely to reduce costs further, while enhancing performance levels. These advances, along with cost reductions made possible by large-scale production, construction of a succession of power plants, and scale-up to plant sizes of 100 to 200 megawatts of electricity, promise to make solar-thermal systems cost-competitive with fossil-fuel plants. Solar-thermal technologies are appropriate for a wide range of applications, including central-station power plants, where they can meet peak utility and intermediate load needs, and modular power plants in both remote and grid-distributed areas. 101 refs., 34 figs., 13 tabs.

M. Geyer

Papers

Solar-thermal electric technology