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Design, optimization and performance comparison of solar tower and photovoltaic power plants

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  • Awan, Ahmed Bilal
  • Zubair, Muhammad
  • Chandra Mouli, Kotturu V.V.

Abstract

This paper compares two main technologies of solar to electrical energy conversion, namely solar tower (ST) and photovoltaic (PV). For a fair comparison, a 100 MW same sized ST and PV plants are designed for a region with very good direct normal irradiance (DNI) and global horizontal irradiance (GHI). The initial design of the ST plant is optimized for solar multiple and thermal energy storage hours, and the PV plant is optimized for the optimal distance between parallel PV arrays. The ST plant has superior annual energy output of 513040.16 MWh compared to 270754.6 MWh from PV plant and capacity utilization factor of 58.6% in comparison to 30.9% from PV plant. On the contrary, the land use factor and solar to electric efficiency (SEE) of the PV plant is superior to ST plant while levelized cost of energy of ST plant is 2.83 times higher than the PV plant. Although ST plant has superior technical performance but way better economic performance of PV plant makes it the stand out solar to electrical energy technology for a location with promising GHI and DNI. This paper provides very useful guidelines for the policymakers to select a particular technology for the future solar-based power generation projects.

Suggested Citation

  • Awan, Ahmed Bilal & Zubair, Muhammad & Chandra Mouli, Kotturu V.V., 2020. "Design, optimization and performance comparison of solar tower and photovoltaic power plants," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 199(C).
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:energy:v:199:y:2020:i:c:s0360544220305570
    DOI: 10.1016/j.energy.2020.117450
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    Cited by:

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    3. Jain, Sourabh, 2022. "Exploring structures of power purchase agreements towards supplying 24x7 variable renewable electricity," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 244(PA).
    4. Li, Yanjiao & Qing, Chen & Guo, Shili & Deng, Xin & Song, Jiahao & Xu, Dingde, 2023. "When my friends and relatives go solar, should I go solar too? —— Evidence from rural Sichuan province, China," Renewable Energy, Elsevier, vol. 203(C), pages 753-762.
    5. Ali S. Alghamdi, 2021. "Performance Enhancement of Roof-Mounted Photovoltaic System: Artificial Neural Network Optimization of Ground Coverage Ratio," Energies, MDPI, vol. 14(6), pages 1-18, March.
    6. Ahmed Bilal Awan & Mohammed Alghassab & Muhammad Zubair & Abdul Rauf Bhatti & Muhammad Uzair & Ghulam Abbas, 2020. "Comparative Analysis of Ground-Mounted vs. Rooftop Photovoltaic Systems Optimized for Interrow Distance between Parallel Arrays," Energies, MDPI, vol. 13(14), pages 1-21, July.

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