scholarly journals Pilot Low-Cost Concentrating Solar Power Systems Deployment in Sub-Saharan Africa: A Case Study of Implementation Challenges

2020 ◽  
Vol 12 (15) ◽  
pp. 6223
Author(s):  
Emmanuel Wendsongre Ramde ◽  
Eric Tutu Tchao ◽  
Yesuenyeagbe Atsu Kwabla Fiagbe ◽  
Jerry John Kponyo ◽  
Asakipaam Simon Atuah
Keyword(s):  
Electricity Generation ◽  
Power Plants ◽  
Large Scale ◽  
Solar Power ◽  
Low Cost ◽  
Sub Saharan Africa ◽  
Tracking Systems ◽  
Concentrating Solar Power ◽  
Solar Power Plants ◽  
Sub Saharan

Electricity is one of the most crucial resources that drives any given nation’s growth and development. The latest Sustainable Development Goals report indicates Africa still has a high deficit in electricity generation. Concentrating solar power seems to be a potential option to fill the deficit. That is because most of the components of concentrating solar power plants are readily available on the African market at affordable prices, and there are qualified local persons to build the plants. Pilot micro-concentrating solar power plants have been implemented in Sub-Saharan Africa and have shown promising results that could be expanded and leveraged for large-scale electricity generation. An assessment of a pilot concentrating solar power plant in the sub-region noticed one noteworthy obstacle that is the failure of the tracking system to reduce the operating energy cost of running the tracking control system and improve the multifaceted heliostat focusing behavior. This paper highlights the energy situation and the current development in concentrating solar power technology research in Africa. The paper also presents a comprehensive review of the state-of-the-art solar tracking systems for central receiver systems to illustrate the current direction of research regarding the design of low-cost tracking systems in terms of computational complexity, energy consumption, and heliostat alignment accuracy.

scholarly journals A Quest to the Cheapest Method for Electricity Generation in Concentrating Solar Power Plants

2015 ◽  
Vol 75 ◽  
pp. 514-520 ◽  
Author(s):  
Rubén Abbas ◽  
José M. Martínez-Val ◽  
Javier Muñoz-Antón ◽  
Manuel Valdés ◽  
Alberto Ramos ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Electricity Generation ◽  
Power Plants ◽  
Solar Power ◽  
Concentrating Solar Power ◽  
Solar Power Plants

Performance and Water Consumption of the Solar Steam-Injection Gas Turbine Cycle

2012 ◽  
Vol 135 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Maya Livshits ◽  
Abraham Kribus
Keyword(s):  
Gas Turbine ◽  
Water Consumption ◽  
Power Plants ◽  
Solar Power ◽  
Low Cost ◽  
Steam Injection ◽  
Water Recovery ◽  
Solar Power Plants ◽  
Improved Model ◽  
Hybrid Cycle

Solar heat at moderate temperatures around 200 °C can be utilized for augmentation of conventional steam-injection gas turbine power plants. Solar concentrating collectors for such an application can be simpler and less expensive than collectors used for current solar power plants. We perform a thermodynamic analysis of this hybrid cycle, focusing on improved modeling of the combustor and the water recovery condenser. The cycle's water consumption is derived and compared to other power plant technologies. The analysis shows that the performance of the hybrid cycle under the improved model is similar to the results of the previous simplified analysis. The water consumption of the cycle is negative due to water production by combustion, in contrast to other solar power plants that have positive water consumption. The size of the needed condenser is large, and a very low-cost condenser technology is required to make water recovery in the solar STIG cycle technically and economically feasible.

scholarly journals A Review of Conventional and Innovative- Sustainable Methods for Cleaning Reflectors in Concentrating Solar Power Plants

2018 ◽  
Vol 10 (11) ◽  
pp. 3937 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sahar Bouaddi ◽  
Aránzazu Fernández-García ◽  
Chris Sansom ◽  
Jon Sarasua ◽  
Fabian Wolfertstetter ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Power Plants ◽  
Solar Power ◽  
Alternative Methods ◽  
Concentrating Solar Power ◽  
Water Based ◽  
Solar Power Plants ◽  
Cleaning Methods ◽  
The Cost ◽  
Solar Field ◽  
High Reflectance

The severe soiling of reflectors deployed in arid and semi arid locations decreases their reflectance and drives down the yield of the concentrating solar power (CSP) plants. To alleviate this issue, various sets of methods are available. The operation and maintenance (O&M) staff should opt for sustainable cleaning methods that are safe and environmentally friendly. To restore high reflectance, the cleaning vehicles of CSP plants must adapt to the constraints of each technology and to the layout of reflectors in the solar field. Water based methods are currently the most commonly used in CSP plants but they are not sustainable due to water scarcity and high soiling rates. The recovery and reuse of washing water can compensate for these methods and make them a more reasonable option for mediterranean and desert environments. Dry methods, on the other hand, are gaining more attraction as they are more suitable for desert regions. Some of these methods rely on ultrasonic wave or vibration for detaching the dust bonding from the reflectors surface, while other methods, known as preventive methods, focus on reducing the soiling by modifying the reflectors surface and incorporating self cleaning features using special coatings. Since the CSP plants operators aim to achieve the highest profit by minimizing the cost of cleaning while maintaining a high reflectance, optimizing the cleaning parameters and strategies is of great interest. This work presents the conventional water-based methods that are currently used in CSP plants in addition to sustainable alternative methods for dust removal and soiling prevention. Also, the cleaning effectiveness, the environmental impacts and the economic aspects of each technology are discussed.

Optimal scheduling in concentrating solar power plants oriented to low generation cycling

2019 ◽  
Vol 135 ◽  
pp. 789-799 ◽  
Author(s):  
Emilian Gelu Cojocaru ◽  
José Manuel Bravo ◽  
Manuel Jesús Vasallo ◽  
Diego Marín Santos
Keyword(s):  
Power Plants ◽  
Solar Power ◽  
Optimal Scheduling ◽  
Concentrating Solar Power ◽  
Solar Power Plants

A review of concentrating solar power plants in the world and their potential use in Serbia

2012 ◽  
Vol 16 (6) ◽  
pp. 3891-3902 ◽  
Author(s):  
Tomislav M. Pavlović ◽  
Ivana S. Radonjić ◽  
Dragana D. Milosavljević ◽  
Lana S. Pantić
Keyword(s):  
Power Plants ◽  
Solar Power ◽  
Concentrating Solar Power ◽  
The World ◽  
Solar Power Plants ◽  
Potential Use
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