Energy Science Engineering - 2018 - Ahmadi - Solar Power Technology For Electricity Generation A Critical Review

Received: 23 June 2018
|
Revised: 19 August 2018
| Accepted: 30 August 2018
DOI: 10.1002/ese3.239
REVIEW ARTICLE
Solar power technology for electricity generation: A critical

review
Mohammad Hossein Ahmadi1 | Mahyar Ghazvini2 | Milad Sadeghzadeh2 Mohammad

Alhuyi Nazari2 | Ravinder Kumar3 | Abbas Naeimi4 | Tingzhen Ming5
1
Faculty of Mechanical Engineering, Shahrood University of Technology, Shahrood, Iran
2
Department of Renewable Energy and Environmental Engineering, University of Tehran, Tehran, Iran
3
School of Mechanical Engineering, Lovely Professional University, Punjab, India
4
Faculty of Mechanical and Energy Engineering, Shahid Beheshti University, Tehran, Iran
5
School of Civil Engineering and Architecture, Wuhan University of Technology, Wuhan, China
Correspondence
Mohammad Hossein Ahmadi, Faculty
Abstract
of Mechanical Engineering, Shahrood Negative environmental impact of fossil fuel consumption highlight the role of re-
University of Technology, Shahrood, Iran. newable energy sources and give them a unique opportunity to grow and improve.
Email: mohammadhosein.ahmadi@gmail.
com Among renewable energy sources solar energy attract more attention and many stud-
and ies have focused on using solar energy for electricity generation. Here, in this study,
Tingzhen Ming, School of Civil
solar energy technologies are reviewed to find out the best option for electricity gen-
Engineering and Architecture, Wuhan
University of Technology, Wuhan, China. eration. Using solar energy to generate electricity can be done either directly and
Email: tzming@whut.edu.cn indirectly. In the direct method, PV modules are utilized to convert solar irradiation
Funding information into electricity. In the indirect method, thermal energy is harnessed employing con-
National Natural Science Foundation centrated solar power (CSP) plants such as Linear Fresnel collectors and parabolic
of China, Grant/Award Number:
51778511; Hubei Provincial Natural
trough collectors. In this paper, solar thermal technologies including soar trough col-
Science Foundation of China, Grant/ lectors, linear Fresnel collectors, central tower systems, and solar parabolic dishes
Award Number: 2018CFA029; Scientific are comprehensively reviewed and barriers and opportunities are discussed. In addi-
Research Foundation of Wuhan University
of Technology, Grant/Award Number: tion, a comparison is made between solar thermal power plants and PV power gen-
40120237; Key Project of ESI Discipline eration plants. Based on published studies, PV-based systems are more suitable for
Development of Wuhan University of
small-scale power generation. They are also capable of generating more electricity in
Technology, Grant/Award Number:
2017001 a specific area in comparison with CSP-based systems. However, based on economic
considerations, CSP plants are better in economic return.
KEYWORDS
central receiver tower, concentrated solar power, linear fresnel reflector, parabolic trough collector,
photovoltaic
This is an open access article under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits use, distribution and reproduction in any medium, provided the original
work is properly cited.
© 2018 The Authors. Energy Science & Engineering published by the Society of Chemical Industry and John Wiley & Sons Ltd.
|
340
wileyonlinelibrary.com/journal/ese3 Energy Sci Eng. 2018;6:340–361.
|
20500505, 2018, 5, Downloaded from https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/ese3.239 by Cochrane Malaysia, Wiley Online Library on [17/06/2023]. See the Terms and Conditions (https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/terms-and-conditions) on Wiley Online Library for rules of use; OA articles are governed by the applicable Creative Commons License
AHMADI et al. 341
1 | IN T RO D U C T ION evaluate and compare the energetic and exergetic performances

of these systems.
Due to the increase in world population, development in in- Kabir et al8 investigated solar technologies and discussed
dustrial activities, and enhancement in living standards, the the present and future opportunities and barriers. Islam et al9
human demand for electricity will grow in the future years.1 analyzed solar thermal technologies current status and re-
Traditional fossil fuels such as oil and coal cause carbon di- search trends and concluded that direct steam generation by
oxide emissions and global warming.2 employing solar energy in solar concentrated schemes is the
Thus, it is necessary to explore appropriate alterna- most promising approach. Rovira et al10 compared different
tives sources for electricity generation which are environ- technologies for integration is solar combined cycles. Hansen
mentally benign and sustainable. Solar energy is one of and Van Mathiesen11 presented a novel approach to evaluate
the most attractive sources of energy for electricity gen- the potential of utilizing solar thermal technologies in the
eration. Typically, solar energy harnessed in the daytime Europe and assessed four countries (Germany, Austria, Italy,
needs to be stored (thermally or electrically) for utilization and Denmark) statuses of employing renewable energies, spe-
in the night. Utilizing energy storage units typically result cifically solar thermal energy, to achieve European defined tar-
in increased investment and maintenance costs and hence gets. The selected countries are assessed under several criteria
an increase in the levelized cost of generated electricity. including substantial heat savings, expansion of district heat-
Recent advances in solar energy research and development ing networks and with high-renewable electricity and heating
have helped make solar energy systems more affordable sectors. It was concluded that solar energy in the studied coun-
for commercial utilization.3 Research continues in order to tries have this potential to provide 3%-12% of total heat sup-
decrease the constraints (which are mainly technical) and ply. It was demonstrated that solar thermal technologies cannot
cost of those systems which are typically employed in solar compete with other renewable technologies in high-capacity
power plants. systems due to energy prices and ‑system flexibilities.
Based on a recent International Energy Agency (IEA) re-
port,4 the share of fossil fuels in the global energy consump-
tion is equal to 82%, however, it is anticipated that this share 2 | SOLAR THERM AL POWER
will be reduced down to 75% by 2035 by developing new GENERATION SYSTEM S WITH
renewable energy sources or adding improvements to the VARIOUS SOLAR CONCENTRATOR S
present renewable energy systems.
The energy received by the earth from the sun in 1 day can
2.1 | Concentrated solar power
provide the whole world’s energy requirement for more than
20 years since this the rate of the solar energy which fell to Concentrated solar power (CSP) utilize lenses and mirrors in
the earth’s surface is 120 × 105 watts.5 Development in solar order to focus solar irradiation on a small area. The concentrated
energy infrastructures can enhance the level of energy secu- radiation can be applied to generate electricity indirectly. The
rity since it is an import-independent energy source. In ad- absorbed heat from solar irradiation is used in thermodynamic
dition, using solar energy results in minimal environmental cycles in order to produce electricity.12 These systems are able
impacts.6,7 The potential of solar energy makes it favorable in to generate electricity even in the absence of sun which can be
several ways such as: enumerated as their main advantage compared to solar power
technologies. This possibility can be happened by integrating
• Since the tropical and subtropical regions receive huge energy storage systems such as thermal storage tank to save the
amounts of solar irradiation, solar energy is very suitable extra amount of thermal energy in the daylight for being used in
to generate electricity in these regions. the periods which sunlight is not available. The most important
• Social acceptance of solar energy increased in recent years. issues pertaining to solar power plants using CSP technology
• Electricity generation using solar energy is relatively af- are13:
fordable and it is appropriate for rural and urban regions.
• High efficiency is obtainable since the thermodynamic cy-
In the present paper, a comprehensive literature review is cles are fed by high-temperature input.
conducted on solar thermal power plants that use concentra- • CSP technology uses only the direct component of incom-
tors such as parabolic troughs, central towers, parabolic dishes, ing solar radiation, but it implies the loss of the diffused
and linear Fresnel reflector systems. The paper will attempt to and reflected components.
provide summaries of the studies conducted on solar thermal • CSP systems’ performance will boost up in locations with
power generation systems. Besides, a brief explanation of pho- higher amounts of Direct Normal Irradiation (DNI).
tovoltaic systems and a comparison among solar thermal power • CSP systems are not appropriate for small-scale power
plants are presented. In addition, an attempt will be made to generation since they require high capital cost.
|
342 AHMADI et al.
Among the various types of CSP systems, parabolic-trough

collectors have the highest market share which is approximately
90%.14
2.1.1 | Solar thermal power generation

systems with parabolic trough concentrators
A parabolic trough concentrator (PTC) utilizes the line focus
technology for the CSP. This technology attracts intentions
in 1980s due to oil crises.15 PTC consists of collector with
long parabolic trough and a pedestal as support of the col-
lector. This technology focuses solar irradiations on its focal
line. A receiver is located there which absorb the heat. High
absorptance material is utilized to coat the receiver. It is sur-
rounded by a tube which is made of glass. In order to de-
crease heat losses, vacuum status is created between the tube
and receiver as shown in (Figures 1 and 2). Vacuum plays
key role in receiver insulation and loss of vacuum can cause
four times higher heat loss.16 Using lesser components and
leakage-free glass cover, vacuum leakage can be prevented.17
The working temperature of PTC is wide, in range of 100
to 400°C, which makes it applicable for several applications. F I G U R E 2 Parabolic trough reflector17
PTCs are categorized based on their working temperature.
PTCs work in temperature range between 300 and 400°C are
mainly applied for power generation while the ones operate Ec
𝜂=
in the range of 100-250°C are used for heating purposes.18 A(If − Ii ) × 3600 (2)
The achieved energy by the heat transfer fluid (HTF) For the sake of providing preheat water or reheating the
equals to the collected energy by a trough collector in a hour, superheated steam, PTCs can be used in thermal power plants
which can be concluded as follows19: which utilize coal as fuel. The effect of utilizing PTC is the
[ ( ) ( )] reduction in coal consumption, as the result, the reduction
ṁ cp To − Ti j+1 + cp To − Ti j
(1) in carbon dioxide emission. The effect of using this tech-
Ec = nology in saving the fuel and carbon dioxide is presented in
2
In Equation (1), the 1st parenthesis, (To–Ti)j indicates the Table 1.21
measured temperature difference at any time of j between the
inlet and outlet of the collector. (To–Ti)j+1 represents the tem- Mathematical modeling
perature difference after passing a 1 hour interval from the In order to provide mathematical modeling for evaluation of
jth time. the thermal performance of a parabolic trough power plant,
Direct production of steam can lead to changes in heat Mohammad et al22 consider a typical power plant with trough
transfer to the steam and the pressure.20 Equation (2). Is collectors, Figure 3, and modeled the thermal analysis as
applied in order to obtain the efficiency of transferring con- follows:
centrated heat to HTF: The amount of gained energy in the trough collector is
calculated as follows:
T A B L E 1 Fuel saving for hybrid parabolic trough collector21
CO2
emission
Total field area (m2) Fuel consumption (kg/h) (kg/h)
3000 615291.53 703893.51
6000 589792.76 674722.84
9000 539566.43 617264.00
120 000 448437.20 513012.16
F I G U R E 1 Schematic of parabolic trough collector16
|
AHMADI et al. 343
F I G U R E 3 A typical solar thermal

power plant with trough collector22
In order to obtain UL from above equation, hc,ca and hr,ca,

Qgain = mcl (h7 − h6 ) = 𝜂IAp
( ) and hr,cr must be calculated:
𝜂 = 𝜂o UL ΔT I (3)
ΔT = Tm − Ta hr,ca = 𝜀cv 𝜎(Tc + Ta )(Tc2 + Ta2 )
where mcl indicates the mass flow rate of the passing working hr,cr =
𝜎(Tc +Tr,ave )(Tc2 +Ta2 )
( ) (7)
f l u i d𝜂 through the trough collector, I represents the Direct
1−𝜀r A
𝜀r
+ Ar + 𝜀1 −1 + F1
c cv 12
o
Normal Irradiance, Ap denotes the aperture area of
( )
NuKair
hc,ca =
the collector, Tm is the average temperature between inlet Dco
and outlet of the collector (Tm = (T6 + T7)/2), Ta indicates

the ambient temperature, and UL denotes the loss coefficient. where ɛcv and σ are the emittance of the cover and Stefane-
By ignoring all the internal losses and required work in the Boltzmann constant, respectively. ɛr is the emittance of the
Pumps, then the delivered heat to the steam generation unit is receiver and Nu represents the Nusselt number. Kair indicates
calculated as follows: the air thermal conductivity.
The input amount of energy from solar to the trough sys-
Qgain = mcl (h7 − h6 ) = mcl (h1 − h3 ) (4)
tem, the steam turbine work, the total work of the cycle, and
Combining equations 3 and 4: the total efficiency of the introduced power plant is calcu-
lated as:
mcl (h1 − h3 ) = 𝜂o IAp (5)
Qsolar = mcl (h7 − h6 ) + m(h1 − h9 )
where, , UL, and Ap are obtained as follows: Wst = m(h
̇ 1 − h2 )
(8)
Wcycle = Wst − ΣWpumps
𝜂o = 𝜌c 𝛾𝜏𝛼K𝛾 Wcycle
(6) 𝜂tot = Qsolar
Ap = L(w − Dco )
[ ]−1
Ar 1
UL = (h +h )A
+ h
Appearance of parabolic trough collector
c,ca r,ca c r,cr
The first applicable PTCs was designed and manufactured

where 𝜌c ,𝛾,𝜏,𝛼, and Kγ indicate the surface’s reflectance, in- with a collector which had 3.25 m2 area. The designed
tercept factor, glass cover’s transmittance, the receiver’s ab- PTC was utilized to derive an engine with 373 W capacity.
sorbance, and incident angle modifier, respectively. Dco, L, Other similar systems were designed and manufactured dur-
and w represent outer diameter of the receiver, length, and ing 1872-1875, which utilize air as the working fluid.23 In
width, respectively. another research, Ericsson constructed a system known as
|
344 AHMADI et al.
“sun motor” which consisted of a PTC with 3.35-m-long, active parabolic power plants in the world is equal to 20, 11
4.88-m-wide. This system was applied to focus solar radia- of them are installed in Spain, 2 of them exist in Iran, 5 of
tion on a boiler tube. A manual system was applied to track them are located in USA and one system is installed in Italy
the sun. The absolute operating pressure of the piston was and Morocco. The number of constructed parabolic trough
0.24 MPa and its rotational speed was equal to 120 rpm dur- power plants is equal to 27 all over the world.
ing summer.23,24 Moreover, in 1907, Maier and Remshardt The capacity of the systems installed in Spain are:
patented a PTC with DSG (Direct Steam Generation).25 150 MW installed in Solnova, Andasol Solar Power Station
In addition, Shuman designed several solar engine during with 100 MW capacity, Extresol Solar Power Station with
1906 and 1911. He used diverse types of both none and low- 100 MW capcity, Ibersol Ciudad Real with 50 MW capacity,
concentrating solar collectors. Shuman planned and estab- La Florida with 50 MW capacity, Alvarado I of 50 MW, La
lished a large irrigation pumping plant in Mead in 1912 Dehesa of 50 MW, Majadas de Tietar of 50 MW, Palma del
with the help of obtaining the information of the previous Rio 2 of 50 MW, Palma del Rio 1 of 50 MW and Manchasol-1
experiences. Afterward, Shuman and Charles Vernon Boys of 50 MW. The plants and their capacity which are installed in
differed the construction of the collector. Boiler tubes which the USA are Solar Energy Generating Systems with 354 MW
were covered by glass were installed along the focal axis of capacity, Martin Next Generation Solar Energy Center with
a PTC. The pressure of the saturated steam generated by the 75 MW capacity, Nevada Solar One with 64 MW capacity,
collector was equal to 0.1 MPa. The length and width of the Keahole Solar Power with 2 MW capacity and Saguaro Solar
PTC rows were 62.17 m and 4.1 m, respectively. Therefore, Power Station with 1 MW capacity. The capacities of the
the total area was 1250 m2. Absorber tube diameter was plants installed in Iran are 17 MW and 0.25 MW which are
equal to 8.9 cm. The concentration ratio of the system was located in Yazd and Shiraz, respectively. In addition, there
4.6 which resulted in the maximum efficiency of 40.7%.18,21 is one active plant in Morocco with 20 MW capacity. The
The real output power of Meadi plant expressed to be capacity of the plant in Italy is equal to 5 MW (http://en.wiki-
14 kW to a maximum of 54 kW, although it was announced to pedia.org/wiki/List_of_solar_thermal_power_stations).
be 75 kW.23 It was suggested that using appropriate steam en-
gine, it is possible to achieve power output equal to 41 kW.22,23 Parabolic trough concentrator analysis
Moreover, the solar radiation was converted into mechanical en- Most financially and effectively applied solar collector in
ergy using a PTC and a steam engine by C.G which had 0.37 kW the thermal power plants which have intermediate operating
power capacity. For reducing heat loss, a single-tube flash boiler temperature range, is the line focusing parabolic collector
encased in a double-walled evacuated glass sleeve was installed which also named as parabolic trough collectors.25-27 Some
along the focal axis. The system can produce saturated steam procedures are conducted to increase the performance of the
at 374°C on the condition of being in the exposure of the sun’s system including the receiver or absorber tube is located at
rays within 5 min.23 In addition, Abbot used an identical boiler to the reflector focal point, a black treated metal tube which is
power a steam engine with 0.15 kW. It was concluded the theo- surrounded by a tube made of glass and is utilized as the re-
retical and actual efficiencies of the system which used the boiler ceiver, for the sake of reducing convective heat losses, the
were equal to 15.5% and 11.7%, respectively.28 space between the pipe and glass cover is evacuated and for
collecting the maximum solar radiation, a tracking mecha-
Parabolic trough power plants nism is utilized (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_solar_
Based on the obtained results on http://en.wikipedia.org/ thermal_power_stations).28-30 Currently, the parabolic trough
wiki/List_of_solar_thermal_power_stations, the number of concentrator’s tracking systems are founded on “virtual”
T A B L E 2 Data related to one-axis parabolic trough concentrators40
Aperture Length per Mirror area per Receiver Peak optical

Collector Structure width (m) Focal length (m) collector (m) drive (m2) diameter (m) efficiency (%)
LS-1 Torque tube 2.55 0.94 50.2 128 0.04 71
LS-2 Torque tube 5 1.94 49 235 0.07 76
LS-3 V-truss frame 5.76 1.71 99 545 0.07 80
New IST Space frame 2.3 0.76 49 424 0.04 78
EURO Trough Square truss 5.76 1.71 150 817 0.07 80
torque box
Duke Solar Aluminum space 5 1.49 49-65 235-313 0.07 80
frame
|
AHMADI et al. 345
tracking.31 At present, the conventional tracking systems characteristic parameters and crucial design has been eval-
which distinguish the sun position with its sensors have been uated and optimized. Additionally, a three dimensional nu-
substituted by a system founded on determining the position merical examination of heat transfer in a parabolic trough
of the sun utilizing a mathematical algorithm. receiver with longitudinal fins using different kinds of
The most efficient parabolic trough concentrator is a new nanofluid has been provided by Amina et al47
concentrator from the Euro Trough in which an advanced Additionally, Bellos et al48 investigated the optimal lo-
light-weight structure is utilized to obtain cost-efficient solar cations and numbers of internal fins to increase the thermal
power generation.32,33 Table 2 indicates the new development efficiency of parabolic trough collectors. As indicated in the
of parabolic concentrator system34-38. results, three fins in the lower part can be considered as the
optimal approach. A three-dimensional model of a parabolic
Expected revenue of parabolic concentrator trough collector has been provided by Chang et al49 for im-
The CSP plants’ revenues are split into government tax proving the heat transfer in the system by utilizing molten salt
subsidies and power generation incomes; the former can be as the working fluid and inserting rods. Patil et al50presented
obtained by VAT (value added tax) deduction. The latter novel designs associated with parabolic trough collectors with
equals to LCOEi multiplied by annual electricity produc- smaller rim angles. Also, Azzouzi et al51 experimentally inves-
tion Ei. So: tigated a solar parabolic trough collector with large rim angle.
Revenuei = power generation incomes + government Moreover, Coccia et al52-54 investigated the annual product
tax subsidies = (LCOEt ) × Ei + 𝛽 × VATi of a PTC, which was low-enthalpy type, with tube receiver.
In order to enhance the thermal efficiency of the system, six
In which, β represents the proportion of VAT refunds.
types of nanofluids were used with different concentrations.
The taxes preferences may involve the production taxes (busi-
Aichouba et al55 examined the effect of varying the position
ness tax, VAT and additional taxes) and income tax. The breaks
of the absorber tube in the solar trough collectors.
associated with additional taxes, business tax, and income tax
ought to be conducted as expenses reductions. VAT concessions
should be treated as nonbusiness income. Thus, the government 2.1.2 | Linear fresnel reflector (LFR)
tax subsidies contributed to CSP projects are VAT deductions.
Arrangements of the reflective glass strips at the bottom of
For CSP systems, the degradation rate (DR), performance factor
the system which rotates around in dependent parallel axis
(η), TF (tacking factor), and DNI (direct normal irradiation) are
can be enumerated as characteristic of Linear Fresnel reflec-
used for determining the annual generation capacity, Ei.
tor (Figure 4). These strips focus on an elevated linear re-
Ei = DNI × TF × 𝜂(1 − DR)i (9) ceiver, which further transfers the heat to the HTF.56
More equation regarding CSP systems can be obtained At the first step, it was introduced as a substitution for cen-
by. 39 tral receiver tower; however, it was as efficient as expected
Yilmaz and Mwesigye41 performed a review study on because of heat losses which were due to one axis tracking
performance, modeling procedure, and simulation of solar mechanism.58 Due to its some advantages like low capital
trough collectors. The solar power plants with parabolic cost and no revolute joints, and close exergy efficiency to
trough concentrator gather up to 60%-70% of the incident parabolic trough collector for direct steam generation (DSG),
solar radiation and their highest efficiency in electrical it can be used instead of the parabolic collector.59
conversion is 20%- 25%. The single- axis tracking para-
bolic trough solar collectors’ performance founded on the
ordinary meteorological year input data of 11 sites has
been presented by Treadwell et al42 Based on the obtained
data, north-south horizontal axis parabolic trough collec-
tors have been suggested. In parabolic troughs, specialists
provided a mathematical derivation of concentration ratio
and rim angle43 and a logical procedure to multi-objective
optimization and design for various design environments44
to assess the optimal utilization of accessible solar energy.
A transient simulation model to assess the performance of
water heating systems by utilizing parabolic trough solar
collectors has been developed by Odeh et al45 Also, the
principle of operation and design for a novel trough solar
concentrator has been provided by Tao et al46 The effect of F I G U R E 4 Linear Fresnel reflector57
|
346 AHMADI et al.
Table 3 expresses the collected data of NREL contributed • Fresnel systems produce excessive high temperature which
to CSP power plant with distinct technologies. According to is favorable for various thermal energy applications.
Table 3, the potential of generating power related to LFR is • It is not required to use HTF or heat exchanger in DSG type
relatively higher with respect to smaller catchment.57 power plants which use Fresnel-CSP.
Some components of the reflector are unused due to the • High thermal efficiency, decrease in investment cost and
blocking and inter row shading. The levelized cost of energy of reduction in payback time are other advantages of these sys-
LFR increases because of some reasons such as reflectivity, co- tems (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Solar_thermal_energy).
sine effect, tube absorptivity, heat losses and etc.61 Some novel • High efficiency is achievable since its working tempera-
designs are proposed for semi parabolic LFR solar concentra- ture is high.
tor in order to eliminate the losses occur due to shading and • By utilizing CSP technology, it is possible to produce clean
blocking between two adjacent layers.62 In addition, LFR has solar fuels such as hydrogen.
the capability of thermal storage (based on molten salts) since
the working temperature can achieve up to 550°C with molten
nitrate (molten salts contained molten nitrate) as HTF.61 Mathematical modeling
Bellos et al64 presented a mathematical model to evaluate the
Challenges of LFR thermal performance of a Linear Fresnel reflector as follows:
An innovative technology with extensive opportunity for ad- In order to calculate the total aperture area of the Fresnel col-
vancement is Fresnel lens-based concentrator solar power.63 lector, Aa, an assumption is made that collectors are in the hori-
The challenges related to LFR are mostly techno-commercial zontal location. Then the aperture area is calculated as follows:
as follows: Aa = Nrf Wo L
(10)
• The exceptional reasonable method for large-scale manufac- where Nrf, Wo, and L are number of reflectors, primary re-
turing of Fresnel lens is casting, however, high viscosity and flector width, and collector length, respectively.
less fluidity of molten material limits sharp edges generation. The available solar energy at the reflector surface is ob-
• Advance materials are needed to be investigated for the tained as follows:
sake of avoiding ultraviolet degradation. Qs = IAa
• In order to prevent dust trapping in grooves, repeated (11)
cleaning is needed. The useful heat production that is transferred from the
• Excessive expenditure and maintenance concern are added sun to the working fluid is calculated as follows:
due to requirement of tracking system contributed to CSP.
• In order to have favorable performance, appropriate HTF, Qu = mCp (Tout − Tin ) (12)
such as molten salt, is required since the working tempera- The following ratio is defined to calculate the thermal
ture of the system is relatively high. efficiency of the linear Fresnel reflector:
• This technology needs high amount of solar irradiation
(DNI), while it is not adequate everywhere. Qu
𝜂th = (13)
Qs
Advantages of LFR
There are several advantages for Fresnel-CSP systems which Power plants with Fresnel reflectors
result in attention attraction of researchers. The most impor- Based on obtained data, currently there are three active
tant ones are listed as follows: power plants using Fresnel reflectors which are located in
Spain, USA, and Australia (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/
T A B L E 3 Field sized at a survey of existing power plant60
Total area
Capacity-weighted average area Generation-weighted average

Technology Projects Capacity MW requirements (acre/MW) area requirements (acre/GWh/yr)
Generic 25 3747 10 3.5
Trough 8 1380 9.5 3.9
Tower 14 2358 10 3.2
Dish Stirling 1 2 10 5.3
LFR 1 8 4.7 4.0
|
AHMADI et al. 347
List_of_solar_thermal_power_stations). The active concen- In Lake Liddell, (New South Wales, Australia), a coal-based
trator solar power plant, in Spain is Puerto Errado 1, in USA thermal power plant was integrated with CSP plant used
is Kimberlina, and in Australia is Liddell power plant which pro- Fresnel reflectors. Therefore, by reducing the consumption
duce 5 MW, 1.4 MW and 2 MW, respectively. As the data indi- of coal to produce electricity, 4000 tons of carbon dioxide
cates, in Spain, an extra Fresnel power plant is being constructed. emission decreased annually (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/
List_of_solar_thermal_power_stations; http://ecogenera-
Kimberlina (USA) tion.com.au/news/liddell -Google Search). Table 6 provides
Kimberlina is the first Compact Linear Fresnel Reflectors technical characteristics of Liddell power plant.
(CLFR) project in North America, located in California, which
has 5 MW capacity. Table 4 presents the technical characteris- Linear Fresnel reflector analysis
tics of Kimberlina power plant. In this power plant, 13 flat nar- Currently, the technology of linear Fresnel reflectors have
row Fresnel reflectors make up one group. Each single reflector attracted many researchers and it is under the process of
is able to track and concentrate the sun radiation on the tubes developing.25,55-64 So numerous investigations have been
which is installed above the reflectors. The focused sun irradia- conducted to evaluate and enhance the performance of
tions transfer heat to water and results in its evaporation. Using LFR.69-71,75 The characteristics’ performance and design of
the steam, which is overheated at the temperature of 400°C, linear Fresnel reflectors with a flat vertical absorber were ex-
the turbine generates the electricity (http://en.wikipedia.org/ amined.76 The parameters which included in the analysis are
wiki/List_of_solar_thermal_power_stations). aperture diameter of the concentrator, the effect of changes in
the absorber height from the concentrator plane, width of the
absorber and the width of the mirror components on the con-
Puerto Errado 1 (Spain)
centration on the absorber surface.77 Furthermore, for distinct
Puerto Errado 1 which produces 1.4 MW is located in Calasparra
absorber configurations, the optical designs of a LFR have
in Spain. The plant technical specifications are presented in
been developed.74 In order to assess the utilization of various
Table 5. This CSP plant has been active since April, 2009. Also
optical designs, a novel method for studying and optimizing
two rows of Fresnel reflectors have been installed there in which
the Fresnel arrays’ performance has been provided by Abbas
the length of each row is 806 m, and the procedure of produc-
et al59 Bellos asd Tzivanidis78 investigated the effect of ap-
ing steam is that a direct sun irradiation is concentrated toward
plying nanofluid on performance of linear Fresnel collectors.
the linear receiver which is located at the height of 7.40 m from
It was found out that employing nanofluid can enhance the
the ground (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_solar_ther-
thermal efficiency of the collector up to 0.8%.
mal_power_stations; http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Solar_ther-
The total loss coefficients’ change for three similar tubu-
mal_energy; http://www.nrel.gov/csp/solarpaces/).
lar absorbers with various absorptive coatings for a prototype
LFR has been investigated by Negi et al65 A CSP based on
Liddell power station (Australia)
LFR has been experimentally studied and also a mathematical
T A B L E 4 Technical characteristics of Kimberlina power plant T A B L E 5 Technical specifications of Puerto Errado 1 power
plant
Kimberlina Solar
Name thermal power plant Puerto Errado 1 Thermosolar
Location Bakersfield/CA Name Power plant
Lat/long location 35°34′0.0″N, Location Calasparra, Spain
119°11′39.1″W Lat/long location 38°16′42.28″N, 1°36′1.01″W
Capacity 5 MW Capacity 1.4 MW
Land area 12 acres Land area 7 ha
No of line 3 No of line 2
Line length 385 m Line length 806 m
Mirrors width in line 2 m Mirrors width in line 16 m
No of mirrors across line 10 Collector manufacture Novatec Solar Espana S.L
Collector manufacture Ausra (Nova-1)
Receiver type Non-Evacuated Heat Transfer fluid type Water
Receiver length 385 m Solar field inlet temperature 140°C
Heat Transfer fluid type Water Solar field outlet temperature 270°C
Power cycle pressure 40 bar Power cycle pressure 55 bar
|
348 AHMADI et al.
T A B L E 6 Technical characteristics of Liddell power plant24,53
Liddle power
Name station
Location Lake Liddle,
Australia
Lat/long Location 32°22′2″S,
150°58′40″E
No of Line 4
Line length 403.2 m
Mirror width in line 16 m
Collector manufacture Novatec Solar
Espana SL F I G U R E 5 Solar tower technology with heliostats field62
(Nova.1)
Operation Temperature 270°C
Operating pressure 55 bar The variation in receiver design can be mentioned as full
cavity type to fully external type, which the latter utilizes
model for evacuated tube absorber which was heated by linear tubes for absorbing the concentrated solar energy. Afterwards,
Fresnel lens presented by Zhai et al66 Additionally, the four the heat is transferred to the heat transfer fluid which exists in the
similar trapezoidal cavity absorbers’ thermal performance for tubes.82 The installed capacity of Spain (2300 MW) leads to be the
LFR have been investigated and compared by Singh et al67 In ad- world head in the CSP technology utilizing solar tower system.83
dition, the total heat loss coefficients of the trapezoidal cavity ab- The ratio of the area of receiver to the total area of con-
sorber with respect to regular black cover have been examined.68 centrating heliostats is equal to Concentration ratio (CR), as
Furthermore, Bellos et al79 experimentally and numeri- shown in Equation (14).
cally studied the performance of a LFR. The characteristic
of the system is a flat plate receiver with 36 m2 aperture area Area of Receiver (m2 )
CR = (14)
which is integrated with a storage tank of 1 m3. Based on the Total Area of Heliostats (m2 )
results, the optimum heat production is 8.4 kW. In another The factors, which mainly influence on the reliability of
work,64 they analyzed a LFR with two different configura- these systems are temperature, the molten salt, corrosion, and
tions such as flat mirrors and a parabolic shape reflector. As the variation in solar flux. Changes in the mentioned factors
stated in the results, the maximum exergy performance is on lead to thermal stresses in the receiver. It is necessary to keep
the condition of 700 K. Also, a parametric study for identi- thermal stresses lower than d 50% of the ultimate tensile
fying the thermal performance of a LFR has been carried out strength (UTS). The thermal stresses are obtained by apply-
by A. Barbon et al80 The considered parameters are mirror ing Equation (15).84
length and width, and receiver height. Cagnoli et al81 numer-
ically analyzed the performance of utilizing encapsulated
( )
2di2
( )
ΔTr 𝛼E do 𝛼E
tubes or evacuated tubes in the linear Fresnel collectors. 𝜎th, max = ( )
d
1−
d02 − di2
ln
di
q th
2(1 − 𝜉)kt t, j (15)
2(1 − 𝜉) ln do
i
The losses in the central receiver due to the radiation and

2.1.3 | Central receiver tower convection depend upon shape, temperature of receiver, wind
Central receiver tower technology can be illustrated as a point velocity, and direction of the wind. Mostly, radiation losses are
focus kind of solar thermal electricity generation system. It the major loss, except the case when the temperature is low
has several heliostats which consist of dual axis control and and the wind velocity is high.85 The input from concentrated
an arrangement in order to focus radiation on stationary re- radiation varies with weather condition and it turns out that
ceiver (Figure 5). The stationary receiver is utilized in order excess radiation received in summer, needs to be diverted to
to absorb the radiation which are concentrated by the helio- the other tower, which can also be utilized by other solar ther-
stats. In addition, receivers are used to transfer heat to the mal application, thereby reducing the load on power grid.86
heat transfer fluid (HTF), Afterward, HTF transfers the heat
to the fluid used in power cycle. Power plants with central receiver tower
Power cycle is commonly founded on Rankine cycle for In 1981, the first central receiver tower power plant (SSPS)
thermal power plants. Additionally, the heat transfer fluid with capacity of 0.5 MW was built in Spain. Table 7 presents
could be utilized as a working fluid in some cases. It can be various CRT projects which have been carried out in the 20th
distinct for the high capacity and storage-based system.62 century. As indicated in Table 7, the countries which are
|
AHMADI et al. 349
T A B L E 7 Central receiver solar thermal power plants in the 20th Also, Wu et al104 theoretically illustrated the design of an
87
century improved water/steam receiver for a commercial CRT. The
Project Capacity Starting
power plant splits into four separate cavities in a single re-
acronym (MW) Country year ceiver unit. Carotenuto et al105 presented a numerical model
of heat transfer performance associated with a multi-cavity
SSPS 0.5 Spain 1981
volumetric solar receiver. In addition to the previous study,
EURELIOS 1 Italy 1981
Carotenuto et al106 investigated a multi-cavity external flow
SUNSHINE 1 Japan 1981 air receiver. As the results revealed, the calculated and antici-
Solar One 10 USA 1982 pated results were exceptionally coincident. Additionally, for
CESA-1 1 Spain 1983 the sake of enhancing the performance associated with the
MSEE/CAT B 1 USA 1984 central receiver to the steam cycle in a solar thermal power
THEMIS 2.5 France 1984 plant, a dual receiver concept was provided by Eck et al107
SPP-5 5 Russia 1986 Also, the investigation of optimization for design parame-
TSA 1 Spain 1993 ters like the heliostat field density and the receiver working
temperature has been performed by Segal et al108 Hu and
Solar Two 10 USA 1996
Huang109 proposed integration of azimuth angle in tracking
system of a solar tower power plant. It was reported that this
integration significantly decrease the number of tracking
pioneer in applying CRT can be enumerated as Spain, USA, equipment. Cavallaro110 performed a life cycle analysis on a
France, Italy, Japan, and Russia.87 solar tower power plant to evaluate its performance.
In the past few years, some projects have been performed
which are illustrated in Table 8. As the table indicates, the Mathematical modeling
projects of PS10 and PS20 were established in Sevilla, Spain Jadhav et al111 presented a model to evaluate thermal per-
with the power of 11 MW and 20 MW, respectively. Also, formance of a cavity receiver of a central tower solar power
these projects have been followed by Sierra Sun Tower in plant. In the modeling process, it is supposed that a uniform
USA, Jülich power plant in Germany, and Gemosolar power distribution is established on the absorber tube of the cav-
in Spain with the power of 5 MW, 1.5 MW, and 20 MW, re- ity receiver. In order to calculate the thermal efficiency of
spectively.88 After the pioneer countries in CRT plants, China the central tower receiver, radiation thermal losses must be
has come in the market in 2010 by installing Beijing Yanqing calculated. Other possible thermal losses are neglected, since
solar power plant. The most significant central receiver power the temperature is very high and radiation loss is dominant.
plants in operation around the world are presented in Table 8. Hence, the thermal efficiency of the central tower receiver is
obtained as follows:
Central receiver tower analysis
Pin,solar = ICAR
Recently, plentiful researchers have worked on central re-
ceiver tower-based solar thermal power.89-98 As an example, Ploss,radiation = AR 𝜀𝜎TR4 (16)
𝜎TR4
Riaz et al99 modeled large area solar concentrator for central
Pin −Ploss,radiation
𝜂th = Pin
=1− IC
receiver power plants. In this study, two major factors like
steering constraints on mirror orientations and the effect of In above equations, ε is equal to one and σ is the Stefan-
impeding the incident/reflected solar radiation and shadow Boltzmann constant. It is concluded from the above equation
have been regarded. Additionally, Due to the various ori- that maximum achievable temperature in the central tower
entations, calculation of solar flux density for the CRT has receiver is:
been carried out by Walzel et al100 Ali 101 determined the )0.25
IC
(
tower’s height, the power plant’s staring time, the distance TR, max = (17)
𝜎
between the tower and the heliostat mirror, and the power
plant’s location with the help of computational model in Iraq. 2.1.4 | Parabolic dish
Furthermore, an innovative concentrator with enhanced ef- Parabolic dish concentrators can be named as point focus
ficiency for solar hybrid power plants has been introduced type devices, which have two main parts: a solar thermal
by Buck et al102 For the sake of calculating costs and per- receiver located at the focal point and parabolic reflec-
formance, plentiful frameworks of solar-hybrid gas turbine tor (dish) (Figure 6). The characteristic of parabolic dish
cycles in low-to-medium power capacity have been exam- can be mentioned as having high temperature application,
ined. Moreover, for achieving optimal efficiencies in CRTs, which is possibly appropriate for solar thermal power and
six kinds of heliostat field layouts have been investigated by solar thermal steam generation.101,102 The range of tem-
Schmitz et al103 perature for PDC fluctuates from 400°C to to750°C with
| 350
T A B L E 8 Central receiver solar thermal power plants in operation88
Country, Capacity Heliostat field Receiver

Name location Owners (MW) Break ground date Starting year area (m2) Type Power cycle Storage Type
Beijing China, Beijing Academy of 1.5 July 2009 August 2012 10,000 Cavity Rankine 1 h Fossil-Solar
Badaling Sciences
Gemasolar Spain, Torresol 19.9 February 2009 April 2011 304 750 Cavity Rankine 15 h Fossil-Solar
Andalucỉa Energy
(Sevilla)
Juelich Germany, DLR 1.5 July 31, 2007 December 17 650 Volumetric Rankine 1.5 h Fossil-Solar
Juelich 2008
Planta Solar Spain, San Abengoa Solar 11.0 2005 June 25, 2007 75 000 Cavity Rankine 1 h Fossil-Solar
10 lủcar la
mayor
(Sevilla)
Planta Solar Spain, San Abengoa Solar 20.0 2006 April 22, 2009 150 000 Cavity Rankine 1 h Fossil-Solar
20 lủcar la
mayor
(Sevilla)
Sierra United States eSolar 5.0 July 2008 July 2009 27 670 Cavity Rankine - Solar Only
Lancaster
California
Yanqing China, Academy of 1.0 2006 July 2011 10 000 Cavity Rankine Two-stage -
yanqing Sciences heat storage
county
AHMADI et al.
|
AHMADI et al. 351
concentration ratio more than 3000 and thermal efficiency

Mathematical modeling
23%.103,104
Loni et al122 presented an energy analysis for a solar para-
A favorable innovation for small-scale power generation
bolic dish power plant. The modeling is based on finding
is PDC, and it can be used as replacement of DG sets.116
the thermal losses from the input solar energy. Thermal
Parabolic dish technology is also a part of distributed solar
energy can be wasted through three heat transfer mecha-
power generation, which can reduce the load on centralized
nisms including conduction, convection, and radiation.
power plants.97,98
Here, since the thickness of the absorber tube is very
Also, for generating electricity utilizing dish Stirling
small and it has high thermal conductivity, so the conduc-
engine technology, parabolic dish concentrator can be
tion heat transfer is neglected. Hence, the useful heat at
operated113. The proven efficiency of dish Stirling engine is
the absorber tube of a solar dish collector is calculated as
relatively 30%117. A kind of linear alternator for generating
follows:
electricity from the reciprocating motion directly is called
advanced Stirling converter118. So, it can exclude mechani- Q̇ useful = Q̇ solar − Q̇ loss,externalconv. − Q̇ loss,internalconv. − Q̇ loss,rad. (18)
cal transmission losses in the Stirling engine specifically on The amount of useful gained heat can be obtained by writing
the condition of free piston Stirling engine.119 By considering an energy balance for the flowing working fluid in the solar
novel technologies, it can be concluded that the combination dish collector as follows:
of the dish-free piston Stirling engine (FPSE) and biofuel is
a perfect replacement for DG sets and is capable of being Q̇ useful = mC
̇ p (Tout − Tin )
(19)
independent from grid power supply.120
The term related to amount of loss associated to the external
Parabolic dish power plant convection and internal convection are calculated as follows:
As data indicate, presently a parabolic dish power plant called Q̇ loss,externalconv. = houter Aouter (Tsurr − Tfluid )
Maricopa Solar with the capacity of 1.5 MW is located in (20)
Q̇ loss,internalconv. = hinner Ainner (Tsurface − Tfluid )
USA (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_solar_thermal_
power_stations). Furthermore, the only power plant which is
The amount of wasted thermal energy through radiation loss
being constructed is in Spain.
is obtained as follows:
Q̇ loss,radiation 4
= 𝜀𝜎Aapperture (Tsurface 4
− Tsurr. ) (21)
Maricopa Solar (USA)
In overall, the total thermal efficiency of a solar dish power
As mentioned, the capacity of Maricopa solar is 1.5 MW
plant after subtracting the losses from useful gained thermal
which is located next to the town of Peoria in Arizona. It is in-
energy is calculated as follows:
cluded 60 solar dishes each composed of Stirling engine, and
electrical energy power’s generator of 25 kW. Additionally, Quseful
𝜂th = (22)
in this power plant, hydrogen is used as a working fluid, Qsolar
and four cylinders Stirling engine and mirrors with silver-
plated glass and solar reflectance 94% are applied as well.121
Table 9 provides the specifications of Maricopa Solar. Also, Parabolic dish analysis
hydrogen is heated by sun irradiation to 750°C and Stirling Numerous studies have been worked on parabolic dish and
engine cools down by air. The generation’s probabilities of its performance.102,103,111,112 The comprehensive energy and
the electrical energy and commercial production of electric- exergy analyses of Stirling engine system and concentrator
ity have been demonstrated by Maricopa Solar.121 are illustrated in this section.104-108 For the sake of evaluating
F I G U R E 6 Parabolic dish existing at ANU (left) and CAD image (right)114

|
352 AHMADI et al.
T A B L E 9 Technical characteristics of Maricopa power plant121 the performance of solar dish collectors. It was monitored
that using nanofluid can increase the water temperature in
Name Maricopa Solar
the storage tank up to 90°C. Loni et al137 compared solar
Location Peoria, AZ
dish collectors with various cavity receiver and working
Lat/long location 33°33′31,0″North, fluids.
11213′7,0″West
Capacity 1.5 MW
Land area 15 acres 3 | PHOTOVOLTAIC ( PV)
No of dishes 60 TECHNOLOGY
Dish description Each SunCatcher produces 25 kW
of Power Photovoltaic (PV) technology is applied in order to directly
Dish manufacture Stirling Energy system (SES) convert solar irradiations into electricity. It utilizes diffused
(SunCatcherTM) elements of incoming solar irradiations. Hence, PV technol-
ogy is appropriate in regions with either high or low solar
radiation. There are several types of photovoltaic materials
the convective heat losses from cavity receivers, an analyti- which can be used for power generation. Mono and poly-
cal model has been presented by Clausing.129 As indicated in crystalline silicon, Cadmium telluride (CdTe), Gallium arse-
the results based on experimental and theoretical investiga- nide (GaAs), triple-junction solar cells composed of Indium
tions, significant convective loss by cavity receivers has been gallium phosphide (InGaP) are among the most common
reported. materials used for PV cells. In order to generate electricity
Furthermore, the investigation of optimizing the radius at a larger scale, solar cells are combined to form a module
of boiler tubes in a radiation-dominated environment like of multiple cells; these modules are then assembled into a
the parabolic dish solar thermal collector receiver has been (photovoltaic) PV array containing the length up to several
performed by Bannister.130 Also, the system’s performance meters. Based on NREL report,138 there are several solar
founded on the linearized heat loss model of the solar col- modules which are inter-connected utilized to generate elec-
lector and the irreversible cycle model of the Stirling engine tricity in utility-scale.
has been examined by Chen et al131 In the study, the solar The technology of PV is sustainable especially for small-
collector’s optimal operation temperature associated with the scale applications.139 These systems can be used both grid-
system’s maximum efficiency has been measured. connected and off-grid. The PV modules can be installed as
Moreover, a low cost solar steam generating system and fixed systems or can be assembled with a tracking system to
its performance, design and development have been pre- obtain higher electricity; however, tracking system requires
sented by Kaushika and Reddy.132 Also, the novel design more area for installation.
and innovative materials of parabolic dish have been pro- PV technology firstly was used to provide electricity in
vided. Additionally, for studying the natural convective heat satellites and aircrafts. However, PV technology is utilized
loss related to three kinds of receiver (cavity receiver, semi- for both off-grid and grid-connected electricity generation
cavity receiver, and modified cavity receiver) for a fuzzy nowadays.140 This technology can be applied for other pur-
focal solar dish concentrator, a computational model has poses including transportation, telecommunication, rural
been presented by Kumar and Reddy.133 Also, a computa- electrifications etc.
tional model of combined surface radiation heat transfer and
laminar natural convection in a adapted cavity receiver of
3.1 | Generations of photovoltaic technology
solar parabolic dish collector has been provided by Reddy
and Kumar.134 In this study, the effects of four major param- PV technology is categorized 1st Generation PV, 2nd
eters on the total heat loss of the receiver were evaluated, Generation PV, and 3rd Generation PV. Since the used semi-
which are emissivity of the surface, operating tempera- conductors in these generations differ, the efficiency and per-
ture, the geometry, and orientation. Moreover, according formance of these types are different. The first and second
to Reddy and Kumar,135 by comparing of 3-D model and generations of PV modules are more commercially mature
renowned models, it was concluded that the former model yield large-scale generation, while the third generations are
could be utilized to obtain precise anticipation of heat loss still in R&D phase. Various types of PV systems are shown
from solar dish collector. Also, an innovative design of a in Figure 7. Comparison between various types of PV sys-
500 m2 concentrator with 13.4 m focal length and altitude– tems is represented in Table 3.
azimuth tracking paraboloidal dish concentrator has been Kumar and Kumar142 presented two parametric models
introduced by Lovegrove et al116 Pakhare et al136 experi- in order to assess the performance of PVs. 5 and 7 parame-
mentally examined the influence of applying nanofluid on ters are selected in two different models to provide an exact
|
AHMADI et al. 353
F I G U R E 7 From left to right: different types of PV systems. Source: NREL141
model for forecasting the PVs performance. The Authors

3.2 | Mathematical modeling
employed both numerical and analytical approaches on the
basis of minimum required data from the datasheet of the The generated power from a PV device can be calculated as
manufacturers. Open circuit and short circuit condition follows:
were applied on both models for further mathematical cal-
WPV = APV FFVoc Isc (23)
culations. The obtained results from both predicting model
were compared to the manufactures datasheet under dif- where Apv, FF, Voc, and Isc indicate the total surface area of
ferent surrounding conditions. In overall, it is concluded the PV arrays, the fill factor, open circuit voltage, and short
that model with 7 parameters is more efficient and provide circuit current, respectively.
more accurate responses.
Kumar and Kumar143 performed a review on different
PV technologies and also analyze the mathematical mod- 4 | COM PARISON OF CSP AND P V
els broadly. Several standard parameters such as perfor- TECHNOLOGY
mance ratio, yield energy, reference energy, and capacity
utilization factor were considered and different presented Various factors including efficiency, economic aspects,
PV technologies were compared. In addition, energy effi- social acceptance, and environmental effects are impor-
ciency and exergy efficiency were also discussed. Finally, tant criteria in selecting sustainable power generation
it is found out that under different ambient conditions deg- system146.
radation and failure modes is important for exact forecast-
ing of PV systems’ performance (Table 10).
4.1 | System efficiency
According to Fraunhofer ISE,144 Si-wafer based technol-
ogy had a share of about 90% of the total production in 2013 CSP technology has higher capacity in electricity pro-
and the share of multi-crystalline PV technology was about duction in comparison with PV modules for small-s cale
55% of the total production. It has also been emphasized by power generation. 120 Although the overall efficiency of
Fraunhofer ISE44,121 and Energy Informative,145 that among PV plants is lower in comparison CSP plants, PV sys-
the thin-film technologies, CdTe leads with an annual pro- tems require smaller land for installation. In the same
duction of 2GWp and currently has the largest market share. area, PV power plants generate more electricity com-
Above Table 11 also implies that a-Si is now commercially pared with CSP plants. Since PV systems have small
mature technology and being used for small-scale applica- size, higher number of PV systems can be installed in
tions only. CPV systems have gained much popularity and the same area in comparison with CSP plants. Several
yield higher efficiencies. studies have proven this fact. For instance, Desideri
| 354
T A B L E 1 0 Worldwide projects related to solar concentrators
Sun concentration Efficiency of

Name and location Concentrator type Focus (point/linear) Output (kW) (X)2 Tracking (yes/no) the system
Alpha Salarco, Pahrump, Fresnel lens Point 15 n/a Yes n/a
Nevada, USA
AMONIX and Arizona Public Fresnel lens Point 300 250 Yes 24.0%
service Arizona, USA
Australian National University Parabolic trough Linear n/a 30 Yes 15%
Spring Valley, Australia
Petal Sede Boqer, Israel Parabolic dishes Point 154,000 400 Yes 16.5%
BP Solar and Polytechnical Parabolic trough Linear 480 38 Yes 13.0%
University of Madrid Tenerife,
Canary Island, USA
Entech Inc, Fl, Davis, Texas, Fresnel lenses Linear 100 20 Yes 15.0%
USA
Fraunhofer-Institute for Solar Parabolic trough and CPC3 Linear and Point n/a 214 Yes 77.5%
Energy Systems Freiburgh,
Germany
Polytechnical University of Flat concentration devises (RXI) Point n/a 1000 No n/a
Madrid, Spain
Photovoltaics International, LLC Fresnel lens Point 30 10 Yes 12.7%
Sacramento California, USA
Solar Research Corporation, Pvt, Parabolic dish Linear 0.2 239 Yes 22.0%
Ltd, Australia
SulFucus Ben Gurien University, Paraboloid and hyperboloid Point and Point 0.25 500 Yes 81.0%
Israel
SunPower corporation USA Fresnel lens Point n/a 250-400 n/a 27.0%
AHMADI et al.
AHMADI et al.
T A B L E 1 1 Overview and comparison of photovoltaic technologies. Source120-123
1st Generation PV (Si-wafer Technology) 2nd Generation PV (Thin-film Technology) 3rd Generation PV (Multi-junction Technology)
Technology Single Crystalline Polycrystalline Amorphous Copper Indium Cadmium Concentrated Dye-sensitized Organic or Polymer
Silicon (c-Si) Silicon (p-Si) Silicon (a-Si) Gallium Telluride Cells Photo-voltaic (DSSC) (OPV)
Di-selenide (CIS/ (CdTe) (CPV)
CIGS)
Commercial PV 15-19 13-15 5-8 7-11 8-11 25-30 1-5 1
module efficiency at
air mass 1.5 (in %)
Commercial mature or Commercially Commercially Commercially Commercially Commercially Commercially R&D phase R&D phase
not? mature with mature with mature with mature with mature with mature with
large-scale large-scale significantly medium-scale large-scale large-scale
production production small-scale production production production
production
Maximum PV module 25 20.4 12.2 19.8 19.6 40 - -
efficiency (in %)
Current PV module 0.7 0.7 0.8 0.9 0.9 - - -
cost (in US$/W)
Market share (In 2014) 90 55 32 25 43 - - -
in %
Maximum PV module 320 - 300 120 120 120 - -
output power (in
watts)
PV module size (in m2) 2.0 1.4-2.5 1.4 0.6-1.0 0.72 - - -
Area needed per kilo 7 8 15 10 11 - - -
Watt (kW) in m2
| 355
|
356 AHMADI et al.
et al 120 showed that despite some advantages of CSP the conventional existing cells. It is necessary to mention that
plants such as capability of electricity production in the the land usage during solar power operation have moderate
absence of solar radiation, power generation of PV sys- environmental effects. No GHG emission has been proved
tems are higher than CSP plants for the same occupied during operation of solar power plants. However, emissions
land. Schultz et al 121 obtained that the conversion effi- exist in other phases such as transportation, maintenance,
ciency of conventional available PV modules are in the and decommissioning.124 Based on published reports by
range of 14% to 22%. NREL,125,126 the harmonized median life cycle GHG emis-
sions of the Tower and Trough based CSP systems vary
from 22 to 23 g CO2 eq/kWh, while for c-Si and thin-film
4.2 | System sustainability
(TF) PV-based systems harmonized median GHG emissions
Several studies have focused on the relationship between are below 50 g CO2 eq/kWh. Therefore, by considering the
sustainable development and environmental issues. Fossil harmonized life cycle GHG emissions of both solar power
fuels and carbon dioxide emission due to their combus- plants, CSP technologies are more appropriate in comparison
tion is the main source of greenhouse gases emission. with PV systems in terms of environmental aspect.
Environmental aspects, social acceptability and cost-
effectiveness of power plants have high importance. These
4.2.2 | Economic aspects
factors are considered for sustainability analysis as shown
in Figure 8. Economic aspects, including investment cost and opera-
tion and maintenance costs, play important role for imple-
mentation and social acceptability of solar power plants.
4.2.1 | Environmental effects
In order to compare PV and CSP plants, the levelized elec-
In order to investigate the long-term sustainability of power tricity cost (LEC) is an applicable measure as utilized by
generation systems, environmental effects must be consid- Desideri et al120 which can be estimated by the following
ered. The main environmental issues which are related to equations:
solar power plants are in assembling and decommissioning.
Almost no harmful effect exists after solar power plant com- fcr IC + Co&M (24)
LEC =
missioning and also during their operation. Eel
Desideri et al122 concluded that assembly of PV systems
have more environmental effects in comparison with CSP kd (1 + kd )n
plants. In addition, based on comparison of PV and CSP fcr = +k
(1 + kd )n − 1 ins
plants with 1 MWh capacity, it was observed that PV power
plant had more environmental effects during the life cycle.
In the process of PV cell manufacturing, various hazardous In the equations, fcr, IC, and CO&M are annuity factor, in-
materials are utilized for semi-conductor surface cleaning; vestment cost, and CO&M annual operation and maintenance
therefore, the risk of inhaling silicon dusts exist for work- cost, respectively. Eel is the annual net electricity output, kd is
ers involved in manufacturing. Based on National Renewable the real debt interest rate, kins is the annual insurance rate, and
Energy Laboratory (NREL) report,123 more toxic materials n is the depreciation period in years.
exist in second generation of PV modules in comparison with Initial investment cost is an important factor in solar
power plant installation. Several studies have been conducted
in order to analyze PV and CSP plants financially. Vergura
et al115 obtained initial investment cost for both PV and CSP
power plants with the same output power in Italy as presented
(25)
in Tables 4 and 5.
Based on IEA reports,127,128 specific ICs for CSP and PV
plants installation are in the range of 4200-8400 US$/kW and
2000-5200 US$/kW, respectively. Obtained results from the
literature are represented in Table 4.
Based on the cost analysis conducted for PV and CSP
power plants, it can be concluded that initial investment cost
of CSP power plants is higher compared with PV plants.
However, economic returns of CSP plants are better in
F I G U R E 8 The sustainability approaches comparison with PV power plants. Moreover, as shown in
|
AHMADI et al. 357
Table 6, it is concluded that the maintenance costs of CSP ACKNOWLEDGMENT

and PV power plants are 1% and 2% of IC, respectively.
This research was supported by the National Natural
Higher maintenance cost of CSP plants is due to its more
Science Foundation of China (Grant No. 51778511), Hubei
complicated mechanism.
Provincial Natural Science Foundation of China (Grant No.
2018CFA029), Key Project of ESI Discipline Development
4.2.3 | Social acceptance of Wuhan University of Technology (Grant No. 2017001),
the Scientific Research Foundation of Wuhan University of
In order to develop a system, it is necessary to consider social
Technology (Grant No. 40120237).
acceptance. The necessity of social acceptance of solar power
systems are reported in several studies.129,130 Results from
reviewed articles showed that social acceptance play a key
CONFLICTS OF INTEREST
role in development of various technologies. Development of
small-scale and large-scale solar power plants demonstrates The author declares that they have no conflict of interests
their acceptance as sustainable and environmentally benign regarding the publication of this paper.
source of energy. In 2013, more than 800 MW of power
plants based on CSP technology are planned to be installed
ORCID
in the USA, South Africa, Spain, and India.131 Solar energy
are used for other purposes such as desalination or heating Mohammad Hossein Ahmadi http://orcid.
systems which shows its acceptability. CSP technologies are org/0000-0002-0097-2534
more applicable for large-scale purposes, while PV modules Milad Sadeghzadeh http://orcid.
can be used for both small and large-scale purposes. org/0000-0001-8574-5463
5 | CO NC LU SION R E F E R E NC E S
1. Pazheri FR, Othman MF. A review on global renewable elec-
Several studies related to solar energy are reviewed and
tricity scenario. Renew Sustain Energy Rev. 2014;31:835‐845.
their results are represented. First, various solar thermal 2. Princiotta FT, Loughlin DH. Global climate change: the quan-
power plants are compared. It is concluded that parabolic tifiable sustainability challenge. J Air Waste Manag Assoc.
trough concentrator are more efficient in comparison with 2014;64(9):979‐994.
linear Fresnel reflectors; however, they require more invest- 3. Siva Reddy SKTV, Kaushik SC, Ranjan KR. State-of-the-art of
ment cost. Other methods are introduced in order to obtain solar thermal power plants—A review. Renew Sustain Energy
higher energy from the sun such as applying parabolic dish Rev. 2013;27:258‐273.
4. World Energy Outlook, focus on China’s energy outlook and
concentrator which are point focused devices and utilized
the natural gas revolution. International Energy Agency (IEA);
for high temperature application. In addition to solar ther-
2017.
mal power plants, solar energy can be directly converted 5. Review and comparison of different solar energy technologies,
to electricity by utilizing PV modules. There are various Global Energy Network Institute (GENI); 2011.
type of PV modules and they are categorized based on their 6. Solar energy perspectives: executive summary, International
semi-conductor materials. First generation of PV modules Energy Agency (IEA); 2011.
have higher share in market and efficiency. In next steps, 7. Vijay Devabhaktuni CN, Alam M, Depuru SSR, Green RC II,
PV systems and CSP plants are compared. Based on the cost Nims D. Solar energy: trends and enabling technologies. Renew
Sustain Energy Rev. 2013;19:555‐564.
analysis conducted for PV and CSP power plants, it can be
8. Kabir E, Kumar P, Kumar S, Adelodun AA, Kim K-H. Solar
concluded that initial investment cost of CSP power plants energy: Potential and future prospects. Renew Sustain Energy
is higher compared with PV plants. However, economic re- Rev. 2018;82:894‐900.
turns of CSP plants are better in comparison with PV power 9. Islam MT, Huda N, Abdullah AB, Saidur R. A comprehen-
plants. Moreover, as shown in Table 6, it is concluded that sive review of state-of-the-art concentrating solar power (CSP)
the maintenance costs of CSP and PV power plants are 1% technologies: current status and research trends. Renew Sustain
and 2% of IC, respectively. Higher maintenance cost of CSP Energy Rev. 2018;91:987‐1018.
10. Rovira A, Sánchez C, Valdés M, et al. Comparison of differ-
plants is due to its more complicated mechanism. Regarding
ent technologies for integrated solar combined cycles: analysis
the reviewed studies, PV systems are more applicable for
of concentrating technology and solar integration. Energies.
small-scale power generation and have higher output elec- 2018;11(5):1‐6.
tricity compared with CSP plants in the same area of instal- 11. Hansen K, Van Mathiesen B. Comprehensive assessment of the
lation. However, CSP plants have some advantages such as role and potential for solar thermal in future energy systems. Sol
better economic return and lower CO2 emission. Energy. 2018;169:144‐152.
|
358 AHMADI et al.
12. Integrated solar thermochemical reaction system, concentrating 35. Kaygusuz K. Prospect of concentrating solar power in
solar power- Sun shot, U.S. Department of Energy; 2012. Turkey: the sustainable future. Renew Sustain Energy Rev.
13. Desideri EGU, Zepparelli F, Morettini V. Comparative analysis of 2011;15(1):808‐814.
concentrating solar power and photovoltaic technologies: technical 36. Kalogirou, SA. Solar Energy Engineering: Processes and
and environmental evaluations. Appl Energy. 2013;102:765‐784. Systems. 2nd edition. Elsevier; 2013.
14. Sawin JL, Martinot E. Renewables Bounced Back in 2010, 37. Geyer M et al. Eurotrough - Parabolic trough collector devel-
Finds REN21 Global Report. Renewable Energy World‘ Sep. oped for cost efficient solar power generation. SolarPACES
2011. Conference. Zürich, Switzerland; 2003.
15. Milton Matos Rolim CT, Fraidenraich N. Analytic modeling of 38. Geyer M, Lupfert E, Osuna R, Zarza E, Nava P. Solar energy
a solar power plant with parabolic linear collectors. Sol Energy. engineering: processes and systems, Proceedings of 11st inter-
2009;83(1):126‐133. national symposium on concentrating solar power and chemical
16. Jinmei Liu QL, Lei D. Vacuum lifetime and residual gas anal- energy technologies, Zurich, Switzerland; 2002.
ysis of parabolic trough receiver. Renew Energy. 2016;86: 39. Ling-zhi R, Xin-gang Z, Xin-xuan Y, Yu-zhuo Z. Cost-benefit
949‐954. evolution for concentrated solar power in China. J Clean Prod.
17. Hachicha AA, Rodríguez I, Castro J. Numerical simulation 2018;190:471‐482.
of wind flow around a parabolic trough solar collector. Appl 40. Bejan A. Unification of three different theories concerning
Energy. 2013;107:426‐437. the ideal conversion of enclosed radiation. J Sol Energy Eng.
18. Liang H, You S. Comparison of different heat transfer 1987;109(1):46.
models for parabolic trough solar collectors. Appl Energy. 41. Yılmaz İH, Mwesigye A. Modeling, simulation and perfor-
2015;148:105‐114. mance analysis of parabolic trough solar collectors: a compre-
19. Kumaresan G, Sridhar R. Performance studies of a solar par- hensive review. Appl Energy. 2018;225:135‐174.
abolic trough collector with a thermal energy storage system. 42. Treadwell GW, Grandjean NR, Biggs F. An analysis of the in-
Energy. 2012;47(1):395‐402. fluence of geography and weather on parabolic trough solar col-
20. Lobón DH. Impact of pressure losses in small-sized parabolic- lector design. J Sol Energy Eng. 1981;103(2):98.
trough collectors for direct steam generation. Energy. 43. Güven HM, Bannerot RB. Derivation of universal error param-
2013;61:502‐512. eters for comprehensive optical analysis of parabolic troughs. J
21. Bakos GC. Solar aided power generation of a 300 MW lignite Sol Energy Eng. 1986;108(4):275.
fired power plant combined with line-focus parabolic trough 44. Güven HM, Mistree F, Bannerot RB. A conceptual basis for the
collectors field. Renew Energy. 2013;60:540‐547. design of parabolic troughs for different design environments. J
22. Mohammad ST, Al-kayiem HH, Assadi MK. Developed mathemat- Sol Energy Eng. 1986;108(1):60.
ical model of solar thermal parabolic trough power plant at Universiti 45. Odeh SD, Morrison GL, Behnia M. Modelling of parabolic
Teknologi Petronas. J Eng Appl Sci. 2016;11(20):12140‐12145. trough direct steam generation solar collectors. Sol Energy.
23. Pytilinski JT. Solar energy installations for pumping irrigation 1998;62(6):395‐406.
water. Sol Energy. 1978;21(4):255‐262. 46. Tao T, Hongfei Z, Kaiyan H, Mayere A. A new trough solar
24. Ericsson J. The sun motor and the sun’s temperature. Nature. concentrator and its performance analysis. Sol Energy.
1884;29(740):217‐219. 2011;85(1):198‐207.
25. Maier W. Verzeichnis der von dem Kaiserlichen Patentamt im 47. Amina B, Miloud A, Samir L, Abdelylah B, Solano JP.
Jahre erteilten. Technische Informationsbibliothek (TIB); 1907. Heat transfer enhancement in a parabolic trough solar re-
26. Kreider JF, Kreith F (eds). Solar energy handbook. New York, ceiver using longitudinal fins and nanofluids. J Therm Sci.
NY: McGraw-Hill Book Company, 1981. 2016;25(5):410‐417.
27. Shuman F, Boys CV, Sun B. U.S. Patent, US 1240890A; 1917. 48. Bellos E, Tzivanidis C, Tsimpoukis D. Optimum number of
28. Spencer LC. A comprehensive review of small solar-powered internal fins in parabolic trough collectors. Appl Therm Eng.
heat engines: part I. A history of solar-powered devices up to 2018;137:669‐677.
1950. Sol Energy. 1989;43(4):191‐196. 49. Chang C, Sciacovelli C, Wu Z, et al. Enhanced heat trans-
29. Ummadisingu A, Soni MS. Concentrating solar power – fer in a parabolic trough solar receiver by inserting rods
Technology, potential and policy in India. Renew Sustain and using molten salt as heat transfer fluid. Appl Energy.
Energy Rev. 2011;15(9):5169‐5175. 2018;220:337‐350.
30. Sharma VK. Physics and technologies of solar energy. Springer; 50. Patil RG, Panse SV, Joshi JB, Dalvi VH. Alternative designs
1987 of evacuated receiver for parabolic trough collector. Energy.
31. Fernández-García A, Zarza E, Valenzuela L, Pérez M. 2018;155:66‐76.
Parabolic-trough solar collectors and their applications. Renew 51. Azzouzi D, Eddine Bourorga H, Abdelrahim Belainine K,
Sustain Energy Rev. 2010;14(7):1695‐1721. Boumeddane B. Experimental study of a designed solar parabolic
32. Galvez JB et al. Solar Energy Conversion and Photo energy trough with large rim angle. Renew Energy. 2018;125:495‐500.
Systems- Thermal systems and Desalination Plants, Volume 1. 52. Coccia G, Di Nicola G, Colla L, Fedele L, Scattolini M.
Google books; 2010: 1‐44. Adoption of nanofluids in low-enthalpy parabolic trough solar
33. Timilsina GR, Kurdgelashvili L, Narbel PA. Solar energy: collectors: numerical simulation of the yearly yield. Energy
Markets, economics and policies. Renew Sustain Energy Rev. Convers Manag. 2016;118:306‐319.
2012;16(1):449‐465. 53. Coccia G, Latini G, Sotte M. Mathematical modeling of a
34. Sharma A. A comprehensive study of solar power in India and prototype of parabolic trough solar collector. J Renew Sustain
World. Renew Sustain Energy Rev. 2011;15(4):1767‐1776. Energy. 2012;4(2):023110.
|
AHMADI et al. 359
54. Coccia G, Di Nicola G, Sotte M. Design, manufacture, and test 74. Mathur SS, Kandpal TC, Negi BS. Optical design and concen-
of a prototype for a parabolic trough collector for industrial pro- tration characteristics of linear Fresnel reflector solar concen-
cess heat. Renew Energy. 2015;74:727‐736. trators—II. Mirror elements of equal width. Energy Convers
55. Aichouba A, Merzouk M, Valenzuela L, Zarza E, Kasbadji- Manag. 1991;31(3):221‐232.
Merzouk N. Influence of the displacement of solar receiver 75. Manikumar R, Palanichamy R, Valan Arasu A. Heat transfer
tubes on the performance of a parabolic- trough collector. analysis of an elevated linear absorber with trapezoidal cavity in
Energy. 2018;159:472‐481. the linear Fresnel reflector solar concentrator system. J Therm
56. Barlev D, Vidu R. Innovation in concentrated solar power. Sol Sci. 2015;24(1):90‐98.
Energy Mater Sol Cells. 2011;95(10):2703‐2725. 76. Negi BS, Kandpal TC, Mathur SS. Designs and performance
57. Ong S, Campbell C, Denholm P, Margolis R, Heath G. Land- characteristics of a linear fresnel reflector solar concentrator with
use requirements for solar power plants in the United States. a flat vertical absorber. Sol Wind Technol. 1990;7(4):379‐392.
NREL; 2013. 77. Mathur SS, Kandpal TC, Negi BS. Optical design and concen-
58. Grena TP. Solar linear Fresnel collector using molten nitrates as tration characteristics of linear Fresnel reflector solar concen-
heat transfer fluid. Energy. 2011;36(2):1048‐1056. trators—I. Mirror elements of varying width. Energy Convers
59. Abbas R, Montes MJ, Piera M. Solar radiation concentration Manag. 1991;31(3):205‐219.
features in Linear Fresnel Reflector arrays. Energy Convers 78. Bellos E, Tzivanidis C. Multi- criteria evaluation of a
Manag. 2012;54(1):133‐144. nanofluid- based linear Fresnel solar collector. Sol Energy.
60. Martín L. Optimal year- round operation of a concentrated 2018;163:200‐214.
solar energy plant in the south of Europe. Appl Therm Eng. 79. Bellos E, Mathioulakis E, Papanicolaou E, Belessiotis V.
2013;59(1-2):627‐633. Experimental investigation of the daily performance of
61. Sharma V, Nayak JK. Effects of shading and blocking in linear an integrated linear Fresnel reflector system. Sol Energy.
Fresnel reflector field. Sol Energy. 2015;113:114‐138. 2018;167:220‐230.
62. Zhu J. Design and thermal performances of Semi-Parabolic 80. Barbón A, Barbón N, Bayón L, Sánchez-Rodríguez JA.
Linear Fresnel Reflector solar concentration collector. Energy Parametric study of the small scale linear Fresnel reflector.
Convers Manag. 2014;77:733‐737. Renew Energy. 2018;116:64‐74.
63. Technology road map concentrating solar power. International 81. Cagnoli M, Mazzei D, Procopio M, Russo V, Savoldi L,
Energy Agency; 2010 Zanino R. Analysis of the performance of linear Fresnel
64. Bellos E, Tzivanidis C, Papadopoulos A. Optical and ther- collectors: encapsulated vs. evacuated tubes. Sol Energy.
mal analysis of a linear Fresnel reflector operating with ther- 2018;164:119‐138.
mal oil, molten salt and liquid sodium. Appl Therm Eng. 82. Srilakshmi G, Venkatesh V, Thirumalai NC, Suresh NS.
2018;133:70‐80. Challenges and opportunities for Solar Tower technology in
65. Negi BS, Mathur SS, Kandpal TC. Optical and thermal perfor- India. Renew Sustain Energy Rev. 2015;45:698‐709.
mance evaluation of a linear fresnel reflector solar concentrator. 83. Liao Z, Li X, Xu C, Chang C. Allowable flux density on a solar
Sol Wind Technol. 1989;6(5):589‐593. central receiver. Renew Energy. 2014;62:747‐753.
66. Zhai H, Dai YJ, Wu JY, Wang RZ, Zhang LY. Experimental in- 84. Martín H, Dela Hoz J, Velasco G, Castilla M. Promotion of
vestigation and analysis on a concentrating solar collector using concentrating solar thermal power (CSP) in Spain: performance
linear Fresnel lens. Energy Convers Manag. 2010;51(1):48‐55. analysis of the period 1998–2013. Renew Sustain Energy Rev.
67. Singh PL, Sarviya RM, Bhagoria JL. Heat loss study of trape- 2015;50:1052‐1068.
zoidal cavity absorbers for linear solar concentrating collector. 85. Rodríguez-Sánchez MR, Soria-Verdugo A, Almendros-Ibáñez
Energy Convers Manag. 2010;51(2):329‐337. JA, Acosta-Iborra A. Thermal design guidelines of solar power
68. Singh PL, Sarviya RM, Bhagoria JL. Thermal performance of towers. Appl Therm Eng. 2014;63(1):428‐438.
linear Fresnel reflecting solar concentrator with trapezoidal cav- 86. Kim J, Kim J-S. Simplified heat loss model for central tower
ity absorbers. Appl Energy. 2010;87(2):541‐550. solar receiver. Sol Energy. 2015;116:314‐322.
69. Ab Kadir MZA, Rafeeu Y, Adam NM. Prospective scenarios for 87. Romero-Alvarez Manuel ZE Concentrating solar thermal
the full solar energy development in Malaysia. Renew Sustain power. Florida, United States: CRC Press, 2007.
Energy Rev. 2010;14(9):3023‐3031. 88. Yang L, Hu Y. A review of solar collectors and thermal en-
70. Zhu G, Wendelin T, Wagner MJ, Kutscher C. History, current ergy storage in solar thermal applications. Appl Energy.
state, and future of linear Fresnel concentrating solar collectors. 2013;104:538‐553.
Sol Energy. 2014;103:639‐652. 89. Reiner Buck W-DS, Barth C, Eck M. Dual-receiver concept for
71. Zheng H, Feng C, Su Y, Dai J, Ma X. Design and experimental solar towers. Sol Energy. 2006;80(10):1249‐1254.
analysis of a cylindrical compound Fresnel solar concentrator. 90. Fang YSWJB, Wei JJ, Dong XW. Thermal performance sim-
Sol Energy. 2014;107:26‐37. ulation of a solar cavity receiver under windy conditions. Sol
72. Yeh N. Optical geometry approach for elliptical Fresnel lens Energy. 2011;85(1):126‐138.
design and chromatic aberration. Sol Energy Mater Sol Cells. 91. Ávila-Marín AL. Volumetric receivers in solar thermal power
2009;93(8):1309‐1317. plants with central receiver system technology: a review. Sol
73. Sonneveld PJ, Swinkels GLAM, van Tuijl BAJ, Janssen HJJ, Energy. 2011;85(5):891‐910.
Campen J, Bot GPA. Performance of a concentrated photovol- 92. Qiang Yu EX, Wang Z. Simulation and analysis of the central
taic energy system with static linear Fresnel lenses. Sol Energy. cavity receiver’s performance of solar thermal power tower
2011;85(3):432‐442. plant. Sol Energy 2012;86(1):164‐174.
|
360 AHMADI et al.
93. Montesa ARMJ, Rovira A, Martínez-Valb JM. Proposal of a 113. Huang X, Yuan Y, Shuai Y, Li B-X. Development of a multi-
fluid flow layout to improve the heat transfer in the active ab- layer and multi-dish model for the multi-dish solar energy con-
sorber surface of solar central cavity receivers. Appl Therm Eng. centrator system. Sol Energy. 2014;107:617‐627.
2012;35:220‐232. 114. Mawire A. Experimental energy and exergy performance of
94. Ortega JI, Burgaleta JI, Téllez FM. Central receiver system solar a solar receiver for a domestic parabolic dish concentrator for
power plant using molten salt as heat transfer fluid. J Sol Energy teaching purposes. Energy Sustain Dev. 2014;19:162‐169.
Eng. 2008;130(2):024501. 115. Wu S-Y, Xiao L, Cao Y. Convection heat loss from cavity re-
95. Álvarez MBJD, Guzmána JL, Yebra LJ. Hybrid modeling of ceiver in parabolic dish solar thermal power system: a review.
central receiver solar power plants. Simul Model Pract Theory. Sol Energy. 2010;84(8):1342‐1355.
2009;17(4):664‐679. 116. Lovegrove K, Burgess G. A new 500 m2 paraboloidal dish solar
96. Yao Z, Wang Z, Lu Z, Wei X. Modeling and simulation of the concentrator. Sol Energy. 2011;85(4):620‐626.
pioneer 1 MW solar thermal central receiver system in China. 117. Giovannelli A. State of the art on small-scale concentrated solar
Renew Energy. 2009;34(11):2437‐2446. power plants. Energy Procedia. 2015;82:607‐614.
97. Yang M, Yang X, Yang X, Ding J. Heat transfer enhancement 118. Smart efficient reliable. Energy solutions with the stirling en-
and performance of the molten salt receiver of a solar power gine. Qnergy; 2018
tower. Appl Energy. 2010;87(9):2808‐2811. 119. Skouri S, Bouadila S, Ben Salah M. Comparative study
98. Chacartegui TSR, Muñoz de Escalona JM, Sánchez D, Monje B. of different means of concentrated solar flux measure-
Alternative cycles based on carbon dioxide for central receiver ment of solar parabolic dish. Energy Convers Manag.
solar power plants. Appl Therm Eng. 2011;31(5):872‐879. 2013;76:1043‐1052.
99. Riaz MR. A theory of concentrators of solar energy on a 120. Bravo Y, Carvalho M, Serra LM, Monné C, Alonso S, Moreno
central receiver for electric power generation. J Eng Power. F. Environmental evaluation of dish- Stirling technology for
1976;98(3):375. power generation. Sol Energy. 2012;86(9):2811‐2825.
100. Walzel MD, Lipps FW. A solar flux density calculation for a 121. Dish stirling solar plant debuts, Power Magazine; 2010.
solar tower concentrator using a two-dimensional hermite func- 122. Loni R, Pavlovic S, Bellos E, Tzivanidis C, Asli-Ardeh EA.
tion expansion. Sol Energy. 1977;19(3):239‐253. Thermal and energy performance of a nanofluid-based solar
101. Ali BF. Theoretical study of main factors affecting the helio- dish collector with spiral cavity receiver. Appl Therm Eng.
stat field design of tower power plant. Energy Convers Manag. 2018;135:206‐217.
1990;30(2):101‐106. 123. Sup BA, Zainudin MF, Ali TZS, Bakar RA, Ming GL. Effect
102. Buck R, Bräuning T, Denk T, Pfänder M, Schwarzbözl P, of rim angle to the flux distribution diameter in solar parabolic
Tellez F. Solar-hybrid gas turbine-based power tower systems dish collector. Energy Procedia. 2015;68:45‐52.
(REFOS). J Sol Energy Eng. 2002;124(1):2. 124. Hafez AZ, Soliman A, El-Metwally KA, Ismail IM. Solar
103. Schmitz M, Schwarzbozl P, Buck R. Assessment of the po- parabolic dish Stirling engine system design, simulation,
tential improvement due to multiple apertures in central re- and thermal analysis. Energy Convers Manag. 2016;126:
ceiver systems with secondary concentrators, Sol. Energy 60‐75.
2006;80(1):111‐120. 125. Prakash JKNM, Kedare SB. Investigations on heat losses from a
104. Wu SF, Narayanan TV, Gorman DN. Conceptual design of an solar cavity receiver. Sol Energy. 2009;83(2):157‐170.
advanced water/steam receiver for a solar thermal central power 126. Wu S-Y, Xiao L, Cao Y, Li Y-R. A parabolic dish/AMTEC solar
system. J Sol Energy Eng. 1983;105(1):34. thermal power system and its performance evaluation. Appl
105. Carotenuto AT, Ruocco G, Reale F. Heat exchange in Energy. 2010;87(2):452‐462.
a multi- cavity volumetric solar receiver. Sol Energy. 127. Lifang LI SD. A new design approach for solar concentrating
1991;46(4):241‐248. parabolic dish based on optimized flexible petals. Mech Mach
106. CarotenutoA T, Nocera U. Thermal behaviour of a multi-cavity Theory. 2011;46(10):1536‐1548.
volumetric solar receiver: design and tests results. Sol Energy. 128. Zhigang Li TL, Tang D, Du J. Study on the radiation flux and
1993;50(2):113‐121. temperature distributions of the concentrator–receiver sys-
107. Eck M, Buck R, Wittmann M. Dual receiver concept for solar tem in a solar dish/Stirling power facility. Appl Therm Eng.
towers up to 100°MW. J Sol Energy Eng 2006;128(3):293. 2011;31(10):1780‐1789.
108. Segal A. Optimized working temperatures of a solar central re- 129. Clausing AM. An analysis of convective losses from cavity
ceiver. Sol Energy. 2003;75(6):503‐510. solar central receivers. Sol Energy. 1981;27(4):295‐300.
109. Hu P, Huang W. Performance analysis and optimiza- 130. Bannister P. Maximization of exergy gain in high tempera-
tion of an integrated azimuth tracking solar tower. Energy. ture solar thermal receivers by choice of pipe radius. J Heat
2018;157:247‐257. Transfer. 1991;113(2):337.
110. Cavallaro F, Marino D, Streimikiene D. Environmental assess- 131. Chen J, Yan Z, Chen L, Andresen B. Efficiency bound of a
ment of a solar tower using the life cycle assessment (lca). New solar-
driven stirling heat engine system. Int J Energy Res.
Metro Perspec. 2019;00:621‐628. 1998;22(9):805‐812.
111. Jadhav S, Venkatraj V. Thermal losses in central receiver 132. Kaushika RND. Performance of a low cost solar paraboloi-
solar thermal power plant. IOP Conf Ser Mater Sci Eng. dal dish steam generating system. Energy Convers Manag.
2018;377:012008. 2000;41(7):713‐726.
112. Marugán-Cruz C, Sánchez-Delgado S, Rodríguez-Sánchez MR, 133. Sendhil Kumar KSRN. Comparison of receivers for
Venegas M. District cooling network connected to a solar power solar dish collector system. Energy Convers Manag.
tower. Appl Therm Eng 2015;79:174‐183. 2008;49(4):812‐819.
|
AHMADI et al. 361
134. Reddy NSKKS. Combined laminar natural convection and sur- 142. Kumar M, Kumar A. An efficient parameters extraction tech-
face radiation heat transfer in a modified cavity receiver of solar nique of photovoltaic models for performance assessment. Sol
parabolic dish. Int J Therm Sci. 2008;47(12):1647‐1657. Energy. 2017;158:192‐206.
135. Reddy NSKKS. An improved model for natural convection heat 143. Kumar M, Kumar A. Performance assessment and degradation
loss from modified cavity receiver of solar dish concentrator. analysis of solar photovoltaic technologies: a review. Renew
Sol Energy. 2009;83(10):1884‐1892. Sustain Energy Rev. 2017;78:554‐587.
136. Pakhare JN, Pandey H, Selvam M, Jawahar CP. Experimental 144. Photovoltaics report. Fraunhofer Institute for Solar Energy
performance evaluation of a parabolic solar dish collector with Systems, ISE with support of PSE Conferences & Consulting
nanofluid. In: Chandra L, Dixit A, eds. Concentrated Solar GmbH, Freiburg; 27 Aug 2018.
Thermal Energy Technolgies. Springer Proceeding in Energy. 145. Maehlum MA. Best thin film solar panels – Amorphous, Cadmium
Springer, Singapore; 2018. Telluride or CIGS?, Energy informative; 6 April 6 2015.
137. Loni R, Askari Asli-Ardeh E, Ghobadian B, Bellos E, Le Roux 146. Renewable Energy Technologies: Cost Analysis Series, vol.1:
WG. Numerical comparison of a solar dish concentrator with Power sector, Issue (4/5). International Renewable Energy
different cavity receivers and working fluids. J Clean Prod. Agency; June 2012.
2018;198:1013‐1030.
138. Solar Photovoltaic Technology Basics, NREL, 2013.
139. Pearce, JM, “Photovoltaics - A Path to Sustainable Futures.”
How to cite this article: Ahmadi MH, Ghazvini M,
Futures, 2002;34 (7):663‐674 Sadeghzadeh M, et al. Solar power technology for
140. Häberlin H, Photovoltaics: System Design and Practice. John electricity generation: A critical review. Energy Sci Eng.
Wiley & Sons, Ltd; 2012. 2018;6:340–361. https://doi.org/10.1002/ese3.239
141. Fu R, Feldman D, Margolis R, Woodhouse M, Ardani K. U.S.
solar photovoltaic system cost benchmark: Q1 2017. NREL;
2017.

Energy Science Engineering - 2018 - Ahmadi - Solar Power Technology For Electricity Generation A Critical Review

Uploaded by

Copyright:

Available Formats

Energy Science Engineering - 2018 - Ahmadi - Solar Power Technology For Electricity Generation A Critical Review

Uploaded by

Document Information

Original Description:

Original Title

Copyright

Available Formats

Share this document

Share or Embed Document

Sharing Options

Did you find this document useful?

Is this content inappropriate?

Copyright:

Available Formats

Energy Science Engineering - 2018 - Ahmadi - Solar Power Technology For Electricity Generation A Critical Review

Uploaded by

Copyright:

Available Formats

Received: 23 June 2018

Solar power technology for electricity generation: A critical

Mohammad Hossein Ahmadi1 | Mahyar Ghazvini2 | Milad Sadeghzadeh2 Mohammad

1 | IN T RO D U C T ION evaluate and compare the energetic and exergetic performances

Among the various types of CSP systems, parabolic-­trough

2.1.1 | Solar thermal power generation

T A B L E 1 Fuel saving for hybrid parabolic trough collector21

F I G U R E 3 A typical solar thermal

In order to obtain UL from above equation, hc,ca and hr,ca,

and outlet of the collector (Tm = (T6 + T7)/2), Ta indicates

The first applicable PTCs was designed and manufactured

T A B L E 2 Data related to one-­axis parabolic trough concentrators40

Aperture Length per Mirror area per Receiver Peak optical

T A B L E 3 Field sized at a survey of existing power plant60

Capacity-­weighted average area Generation-­weighted average

T A B L E 6 Technical characteristics of Liddell power plant24,53

The losses in the central receiver due to the radiation and

T A B L E 8 Central receiver solar thermal power plants in operation88

Country, Capacity Heliostat field Receiver

concentration ratio more than 3000 and thermal efficiency

F I G U R E 6 Parabolic dish existing at ANU (left) and CAD image (right)114

F I G U R E 7 From left to right: different types of PV systems. Source: NREL141

model for forecasting the PVs performance. The Authors

T A B L E 1 0 Worldwide projects related to solar concentrators

Sun concentration Efficiency of

T A B L E 1 1 Overview and comparison of photovoltaic technologies. Source120-123

Table 6, it is concluded that the maintenance costs of CSP ACKNOWLEDGMENT

You might also like

Among the various types of CSP systems, parabolic-trough

T A B L E 2 Data related to one-axis parabolic trough concentrators40

Capacity-weighted average area Generation-weighted average