Improving the optical efficiency of a concentrated solar power field using a concatenated micro-tower configuration

Amos Danielli, Yossi Yatir, Oded Mor

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

17 Scopus citations

Abstract

The concatenated micro-tower (CMT) is a new configuration for concentrated solar power plants that consists of multiple mini-fields of heliostats. In each mini-field, the heliostats direct and focus sunlight onto designated points along an insulated tube, where thermal receivers are located. The heat transfer fluid, flowing through a multitude of discrete receivers, is combined and directed towards a single power block. The key advantages of CMT are its dual-axis tracking system and dynamic receiver allocation, i.e., the ability of each heliostat to direct sunrays towards receivers from adjacent mini-fields throughout the day according to their optical efficiency. Here we compare between the annual optical efficiencies of a conventional trough, large tower, and CMT configuration, all located at latitude 36. N. For each configuration, we calculated the annual optical efficiency based on the cosine factor and atmospheric transmittance. CMT's dynamic receiver allocation provides more uniform electricity production during the day and throughout the year and improves the annual optical efficiency by 12-19% compared to conventional trough and large tower configurations.

Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)931-937
Number of pages7
JournalSolar Energy
Volume85
Issue number5
DOIs
StatePublished - May 2011
Externally publishedYes

Keywords

  • Concatenated micro-tower
  • Concentrated solar power
  • Cosine factor
  • Optical efficiency

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