3rd SFERA Summer School

Basic principles of solar radiation

and STE plants
Eduardo Zarza
CIEMAT-Plataforma Solar de Almera,
Apartado 22, Tabernas, E-04200 Almera
Phone: 950387931
E-mail: eduardo.zarza@psa.es

3rd SFERA Summer School

Almera (Spain),
June 27-28 , 2012

Basic principles of Solar Radiation and STE Plants

ndice de la Presentacin

) The Sun and the solar radiation

) Solar Concentrating Systems
) Solar Thermal Electricity (STE) Plants
) STE technologies comparison

3rd SFERA Summer School

Almera (Spain),
June 27-28 , 2012

Basic principles of Solar Radiation and STE Plants

ndice de la Presentacin

) The Sun and the solar radiation

) Solar Concentrating Systems
) Solar Thermal Electricity (STE) Plants
) STE technologies comparison

3rd SFERA Summer School

Almera (Spain),
June 27-28 , 2012

The Sun and the Solar radiation

Sun is a huge nuclear reactor (7x105 km radius) emitting a great amount of
radiant energy (3,8x1023 kW, 5800K), which can be easily converted into
thermal energy

3rd SFERA Summer School

Almera (Spain),
June 27-28 , 2012

Spectral Solar Irradiance

Extraterrestrial solar radiation

2000

L/LE = 1.5

Spectral solar irradiance (W/m m)

2250

1750

Solar radiation at ground level

(Air Mass = 1.5)

1500
1250

1000

LE

750
500
250
0
0,0

0,5

1,0

1,5

2,0

2,5

Wave length (m)

3rd SFERA Summer School

Almera (Spain),
June 27-28 , 2012

The Sun and the Solar radiation

Sun is a huge nuclear reactor (7x105 km radius) emitting a great amount of
radiant energy (3,8x1023 kW, 5800K), which can be easily converted into
thermal energy
The Earth intercepts only 1,7x1014 kW of solar radiation (10 days known
fossil fuels resources)
The solar irradiance outside the atmosphere is almost constant (its value is
called Solar Constant, 1367 W/m2)
Solar radiation at ground level has two components: Direct Radiation and
Difuse Radiation.

3rd SFERA Summer School

Almera (Spain),
June 27-28 , 2012

Direct and Difuse Solar Radiation

Diffuse Radiation

a) d < /10

Diffuse Radiation

Dir
ec
tR
ad
iat
ion

Dir
ec
tR
ad
iat
ion

Dir
ec
tR
ad
iat
ion

Diffuse Radiation

b) d /4
3rd SFERA Summer School

c) d >
7

Almera (Spain),
June 27-28 , 2012

The Sun and the Solar radiation

Sun is a huge nuclear reactor (7x105 km radius) emitting a great amount of
radiant energy (3,8x1023 kW, 5800K), which can be easily converted into
thermal energy
The Earth intercepts only 1,7x1014 kW of solar radiation (10 days known
fossil fuels resources)
The solar irradiance outside the atmosphere is almost constant (its value is
called Solar Constant, 1367 W/m2)
Solar radiation at ground level has two components: Direct Radiation and
Difuse Radiation.
Only Direct Solar Radiation can be concentrated.
Solar radiation reaching any point is not composed of a single ray, but of a
cone of rays within a solid angle of 32 (approx.).
3rd SFERA Summer School

Almera (Spain),
June 27-28 , 2012

The Sun and the Solar radiation

=
= inicidence angle

= Reflection angle

32

Reflecting surface

3rd SFERA Summer School

Almera (Spain),
June 27-28 , 2012

Introduccin a los Sistemas Solares Trmicos de Concentracin

ndice de la Presentacin

) The Sun and the solar radiation

) Solar Concentrating Systems
) Centrales Termosolares y Crecimiento Sostenible
) Situacin actual
) Conclusiones

3rd SFERA Summer School

10

Almera (Spain),
June 27-28 , 2012

Solar Radiation and its Concentration

Solar Concentration: Why?

Since solar radiation suffers a significant attenuation in its way to the

Earth (from 63,2 MW/m2 to 1 kW/m2) we have to concentrate solar radiation
in order to compensate for its low flux density at the Earth surface and
thus achieve higher temperatures and efficiencies.

3rd SFERA Summer School

11

Almera (Spain),
June 27-28 , 2012

Efficiency versus concentration factor

1

= f(C, T)

System Efficiency

Carnot

0.75
20.000

0.5
10.000
5.000

0.25
1.000
C=250

0
0

1000

2000

3000

4000

Temperatura (K)
Temperature

Dependence of the Efficiency and the Optimum Working

Temperature on the Solar Radiation Concentration Factor

3rd SFERA Summer School

12

Almera (Spain),
June 27-28 , 2012

Solar Radiation and its Concentration

Solar Concentration: Why?

Since solar radiation suffers a significant attenuation in its way to the

Earth (from 63,2 MW/m2 to 1 kW/m2) we have to concentrate solar radiation
in order to compensate for its low flux density at the Earth surface and
thus achieve higher temperatures and efficiencies.

Ways to concentrate the direct solar radiation

a) by Reflection

b) by Refraction

3rd SFERA Summer School

13

Almera (Spain),
June 27-28 , 2012

Solar Radiation and its Concentration

Direct Solar Radiation can be concentrated by Reflection and by Refraction:

Direct radiation

Direct radiation

Reflecting
surface

Fresnel lens

Receiver

Direct radiation
Receiver

a) by Reflection

b) by Refraction

3rd SFERA Summer School

14

Almera (Spain),
June 27-28 , 2012

Solar Radiation and its Concentration

Solar Concentration: Why?

Since solar radiation suffers a significant attenuation in its way to the

Earth (from 63,2 MW/m2 to 1 kW/m2) we have to concentrate solar radiation
in order to compensate for its low flux density at the Earth surface and
thus achieve higher temperatures and efficiencies.

Ways to concentrate the direct solar radiation

a) by Reflection

b) by Refraction

Theoretical and practical limits for solar concentration

Point focus concentrators: 46200 (theoretical); 5000 y 10000 (practical)
Linear focus concentrators: 220, (theoretical); 20 80 (practical)

Limiting factors for solar concentration

a) The apparent size of solar sphere is 32as seen from the Earth
b) Inaccuracies and optical errors of solar concentrators
3rd SFERA Summer School

15

Almera (Spain),
June 27-28 , 2012

Concentration limit due to the Sun disk size

Theoretical shape

Actual shape

L
d

32

Concentration = L/d

3rd SFERA Summer School

16

Almera (Spain),
June 27-28 , 2012

Introduccin a los Sistemas Solares Trmicos de Concentracin

ndice de la Presentacin

) The Sun and the solar radiation

) Solar Concentrating Systems
) Solar Thermal Electricity Plants
) Situacin actual
) Conclusiones

3rd SFERA Summer School

17

Almera (Spain),
June 27-28 , 2012

Solar Thermal Electricity Plants

What is a Solar Thermal Electricity (STE) plant ?
A STE plant is a system where solar radiation is concentrated and then converted into
thermal energy at medium/high temperature (300C 800C). This thermal energy is
then used in a thermodynamic cycle to produce electricity.

3rd SFERA Summer School

18

Almera (Spain),
June 27-28 , 2012

Simplified Scheme of a typical STE Plant

Direct Solar Radiation

Solar System
Optical Concentrator
Optical
losses

Concentrated
Solar Radiation

RECEIVER
Thermal
losses
Heat

Waste Heat

Thermal
Storage

Thermodynamic
Cycle
Mechanical energy

Electricity generator

3rd SFERA Summer School

19

Almera (Spain),
June 27-28 , 2012

Solar Thermal Electricity Plants

What is a Solar Thermal Electricity (STE) plant ?
A STE plant is a system where solar radiation is concentrated and then converted into
thermal energy at medium/high temperature (300C 800C). This thermal energy is
then used in a thermodynamic cycle to produce electricity.

Why are Solar Thermal Power plants interesting nowadays ?

9 It is already profitable in some Countries due to public subsidies or incentives
9 There is a huge market worldwide for these solar plants
9 There are many Countries with good solar radiation level
9 The technology is mature enough for commercial deployment
9 These plants demand a lot of manpower for construction, as well as for O&M
9 These plants do not increase the emissions of CO2 :
- A STP plant saves 2000 Tons of CO2 per year and MWe installed
- Every GWh of electricity produced by a STP plant saves 800 tons of CO2
3rd SFERA Summer School

20

Almera (Spain),
June 27-28 , 2012

Current Technologies for STE plants (I)

Central Receiver Technology
Receiver
Tower
Heliostat field

Power Conversion
100 m
System

3rd SFERA Summer School

21

Almera (Spain),
June 27-28 , 2012

Current Technologies for STE plants (II)

Parabolic Trough Collectors
Structure

Parabolic trough concentrator

Receiver Tube

3rd SFERA Summer School

22

Almera (Spain),
June 27-28 , 2012

Current Technologies for STE plants (II)

STE Plant with Parabolic Trough Collectors

Solar field

Power Conversion System

3rd SFERA Summer School

23

Almera (Spain),
June 27-28 , 2012

Current Technologies for STE plants (III)

Stirling Dishes
Receiver

Concentrator

Solar Stirling engine

Structure
3rd SFERA Summer School

24

Almera (Spain),
June 27-28 , 2012

Current Technologies for STE plants (and IV)

Linear Fresnel Concentrator
Receiver pipe

Rectangular reflectors

3rd SFERA Summer School

25

Almera (Spain),
June 27-28 , 2012

Solar Thermal Electricity Plants

Technologies comparison

Unit plant power

Working temperature
Peak efficiency (solar-electric)
Yearly net Efficiency
Current status
Technological risk
Storage availability
Hybrid designs

PTC

Central
Receiver

Parabolic
Dishes

LFC

15-200 MW
390 C
20 %
11-16 %

15-100 MW
575 C
23 %
7-20 %

9-25 kW
750 C
30 %
12-25 %

15-200 MW
390C
18
13

Available

Available

Available

Low
Si
Si

Low
Si
Si

PrototypesDemonstration
Low
Si
Si

3rd SFERA Summer School

26

High-Medium
Si
Si

Almera (Spain),
June 27-28 , 2012

3rd SFERA Summer School

Basic principles of solar radiation

and STE plants

End of Slide Show

! Thank you for your attention
3rd SFERA Summer School

27

Almera (Spain),
June 27-28 , 2012