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The Solar-Institut Jülich (SIJ) and the companies Hilger GmbH and Heliokon GmbH from Germany have developed a small-scale cost-effective heliostat, called “micro heliostat”. Micro heliostats can be deployed in small-scale concentrated solar power (CSP) plants to concentrate the sun's radiation for electricity generation, space or domestic water heating or industrial process heat. In contrast to conventional heliostats, the special feature of a micro heliostat is that it consists of dozens of parallel-moving, interconnected, rotatable mirror facets. The mirror facets array is fixed inside a box-shaped module and is protected from weathering and wind forces by a transparent glass cover. The choice of the building materials for the box, tracking mechanism and mirrors is largely dependent on the selected production process and the intended application of the micro heliostat. Special attention was paid to the material of the tracking mechanism as this has a direct influence on the accuracy of the micro heliostat. The choice of materials for the mirror support structure and the tracking mechanism is made in favor of plastic molded parts. A qualification assessment method has been developed by the SIJ in which a 3D laser scanner is used in combination with a coordinate measuring machine (CMM). For the validation of this assessment method, a single mirror facet was scanned and the slope deviation was computed.
Producing fresh water from saline water has become one of the most difficult challenges to overcome especially with the high demand and shortage of fresh water. In this context, as part of a collaboration with Germany, the authors propose a design and implementation of a pilot multi-stage solar desalination system (MSD), remotely controlled, at Douar Al Hamri in the rural town of Boughriba in the province of Berkane, Morocco. More specifically, they present their contribution on the remote control and supervision system, which makes the functioning of the MSD system reliable and guarantees the production of drinking water for the population of Douar. The results obtained show that the electronic cards and computer communication software implemented allow the acquisition of all electrical (currents, voltages, powers, yields), thermal (temperatures of each stage), and meteorological (irradiance and ambient temperature), remote control and maintenance (switching on, off, data transfer). By comparing with the literature carried out in the field of solar energy, the authors conclude that the MSD and electronic desalination systems realized during this work represent a contribution in terms of the reliability and durability of providing drinking water in rural and urban areas.
A promising approach to reduce the system costs of molten salt solar receivers is to enable the irradiation of the absorber tubes on both sides. The star design is an innovative receiver design, pursuing this approach. The unconventional design leads to new challenges in controlling the system. This paper presents a control concept for a molten salt receiver system in star design. The control parameters are optimized in a defined test cycle by minimizing a cost function. The control concept is tested in realistic cloud passage scenarios based on real weather data. During these tests, the control system showed no sign of unstable behavior, but to perform sufficiently in every scenario further research and development like integrating Model Predictive Controls (MPCs) need to be done. The presented concept is a starting point to do so.
Concentrating Solar Power
(2021)
The focus of this chapter is the production of power and the use of the heat produced from concentrated solar thermal power (CSP) systems.
The chapter starts with the general theoretical principles of concentrating systems including the description of the concentration ratio, the energy and mass balance. The power conversion systems is the main part where solar-only operation and the increase in operational hours.
Solar-only operation include the use of steam turbines, gas turbines, organic Rankine cycles and solar dishes. The operational hours can be increased with hybridization and with storage.
Another important topic is the cogeneration where solar cooling, desalination and of heat usage is described.
Many examples of commercial CSP power plants as well as research facilities from the past as well as current installed and in operation are described in detail.
The chapter closes with economic and environmental aspects and with the future potential of the development of CSP around the world.
Concentrating solar power
(2012)
Concentrating solar power
(2022)
The focus of this chapter is the production of power and the use of the heat produced from concentrated solar thermal power (CSP) systems.
The chapter starts with the general theoretical principles of concentrating systems including the description of the concentration ratio, the energy and mass balance. The power conversion systems is the main part where solar-only operation and the increase in operational hours.
Solar-only operation include the use of steam turbines, gas turbines, organic Rankine cycles and solar dishes. The operational hours can be increased with hybridization and with storage.
Another important topic is the cogeneration where solar cooling, desalination and of heat usage is described.
Many examples of commercial CSP power plants as well as research facilities from the past as well as current installed and in operation are described in detail.
The chapter closes with economic and environmental aspects and with the future potential of the development of CSP around the world.
Two of the main environmental problems of today’s society are the continuously increasing production of organic wastes as well as the increase of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere and the related green house effect. A way to solve these problems is the production of biogas. Biogas is a combustible gas consisting of methane, carbon dioxide and small amounts of other gases and trace elements. Production of biogas through anaerobic digestion of animal manure and slurries as well as of a wide range of digestible organic wastes and agricultural residues, converts these substrates into electricity and heat and offers a natural fertiliser for agriculture. The microbiological process of decomposition of organic matter, in the absence of oxygen takes place in reactors, called digesters. Biogas can be used as a fuel in a gas turbine or burner and can be used in a hybrid solar tower system offering a solution for waste treatment of agricultural and animal residues. A solar tower system consists of a heliostat field, which concentrates direct solar irradiation on an open volumetric central receiver. The receiver heats up ambient air to temperatures of around 700°C. The hot air’s heat energy is transferred to a steam Rankine cycle in a heat recovery steam generator (HRSG). The steam drives a steam turbine, which in turn drives a generator for producing electricity. In order to increase the operational hours of a solar tower power plant, a heat storage system and/ or hybridization may be considered. The advantage of solar-fossil hybrid power plants, compared to solar-only systems, lies in low additional investment costs due to an adaptable solar share and reduced technical and economical risks. On sunny days the hybrid system operates in a solar-only mode with the central receiver and on cloudy days and at night with the gas turbine only. As an alternative to methane gas, environmentally neutral biogas can be used for operating the gas turbine. Hence, the hybrid system is operated to 100% from renewable energy sources