Dissertations / Theses on the topic 'Solar thermal concentrator'

This thesis discusses aspects of a novel solar concentrating photovoltaic / thermal (PV/T) collector that has been designed to produce both electricity and hot water. The motivation for the development of the Combined Heat and Power Solar (CHAPS) collector is twofold: in the short term, to produce photovoltaic power and solar hot water at a cost which is competitive with other renewable energy technologies, and in the longer term, at a cost which is lower than possible with current technologies. To the author’s knowledge, the CHAPS collector is the first PV/T system using a reflective linear concentrator with a concentration ratio in the range 20-40x. The work contained in this thesis is a thorough study of all facets of the CHAPS collector, through a combination of theoretical and experimental investigation. A theoretical discussion of the concept of ‘energy value’ is presented, with the aim of developing methodologies that could be used in optimisation studies to compare the value of electrical and thermal energy. Three approaches are discussed; thermodynamic methods, using second law concepts of energy usefulness; economic valuation of the hot water and electricity through levelised energy costs; and environmental valuation, based on the greenhouse gas emissions associated with the generation of hot water and electricity. It is proposed that the value of electrical energy and thermal energy is best compared using a simple ratio. Experimental measurement of the thermal and electrical efficiency of a CHAPS receiver was carried out for a range of operating temperatures and fluid flow rates. The effectiveness of internal fins incorporated to augment heat transfer was examined. The glass surface temperature was measured using an infrared camera, to assist in the calculation of thermal losses, and to help determine the extent of radiation absorbed in the cover materials. FEA analysis, using the software package Strand7, examines the conductive heat transfer within the receiver body to obtain a temperature profile under operating conditions. Electrical efficiency is not only affected by temperature, but by non-uniformities in the radiation flux profile. Highly non-uniform illumination across the cells was found to reduce the efficiency by about 10% relative. The radiation flux profile longitudinal to the receivers was measured by a custom-built flux scanning device. The results show significant fluctuations in the flux profile and, at worst, the minimum flux intensity is as much as 27% lower than the median. A single cell with low flux intensity limits the current and performance of all cells in series, causing a significant drop in overall output. Therefore, a detailed understanding of the causes of flux non-uniformities is essential for the design of a single-axis tracking PV trough concentrator. Simulation of the flux profile was carried out using the ray tracing software Opticad, and good agreement was achieved between the simulated and measured results. The ray tracing allows the effect of the receiver supports, the gap between mirrors and the mirror shape imperfections to be examined individually. A detailed analytical model simulating the CHAPS collector was developed in the TRNSYS simulation environment. The accuracy of the new component was tested against measured data, with acceptable results. A system model was created to demonstrate how sub components of the collector, such as the insulation thickness and the conductivity of the tape bonding the cells to the receiver, can be examined as part of a long term simulation.

A promising and novel solar concentrator design has been thoroughly investigated and optimised. A prototype concentrator based on this novel geometry was validated using ray tracing techniques. This ray tracing demonstrated the comparative performance of this novel concentrator in regards to equivalent parabolic dishes. The effect of mirror surface normal errors on performance was established using Monte-Carlo based ray tracing code, which agreed well with the optical performance of this prototype which was determined experimentally. A need for low-cost solar cookers to replace bio-mass worldwide was identified, and the concentrator design was then developed as a low-cost solar oven. Despite existing in some number, no current design is able to achieve high performance at low-cost. An industrial partner, Dytecna, was initially involved in the process of this development of the system as a solar cooker. In support of a field trial for the solar cooker developed with Dytecna, a detailed thermal model of the oven was developed. A low-cost lightmeter was constructed and calibrated in order to measure the direct normal irradiance during the field trial in Italy. Laboratory work provided baseline results for the heating of various thermal masses in the oven. The Italian field trials provided a wealth of feedback into the design of the system and many valuable results. The solar cooker was able to bring 0.75L of water to the boil in 33 minutes with an average heat throughput of 203W. Important benchmark results and practical experience of several competing receiver materials was obtained; further lab testing provided more accurate measurements of the receivers' performances. The experiences of the Italian field trial were fed back into the design of a subsequent prototype, intended for a much larger field trial in Tanzania. Improvements in the hotplate, receiver material, and the oven were all incorporated into the design. Additionally, the structure of the solar cooker was redesigned to incorporate a low-cost wooden construction. Supporting work was conducted for the month long trial in which 8 solar cookers would be distributed to families in Tanzania. The field trial in Tanzania provided a wealth of user feedback into the design. At the same time the new solar cooker exceeded previously established performances in Italy. The new design was able to provide an average of 246W of heat to 1kg of water, which was brought to boiling point in 25 minutes. This represents a heating efficiency of 66% compared to the incident solar flux on the hotplate. In response to findings during the Tanzanian trials, further laboratory work was conducted into establishing the reflectivities of low-cost candidate mirror materials. Throughout all phases of the project the design of the solar cooker was refined and improved with the goal of a solar cooker design that could reach price-point, performance, and usability standards which would ensure market success.

The  aim  of  this  master  thesis  is  an  investigation  of  the  thermal  performance  of  a  thermal compound parabolic concentrating (CPC) collector from Solarus. The collector consists of two troughs with absorbers which are coated with different types of paint with  unknown  properties.  The  lower  and  upper  trough  of  the  collector  have  been  tested individually. In  order  to  accomplish  the  performance  of  the  two  collectors,  a  thorough  literature  study  in  the  fields  of  CPC  technology,  various  test  methods,  test  standards  for  solar thermal  collectors  as  well  as  the  latest  articles  relating  on  the  subject  were  carried  out. In addition, the set‐up of the thermal test rig was part of the thesis as well. The thermal  performance  was  tested  according  to  the  steady  state  test  method  as  described in the European standard 12975‐2. Furthermore, the thermal performance of  a  conventional  flat  plate  collector  was  carried  out  for  verification  of  the  test  method. The  CPC‐Thermal  collector  from  Solarus  was  tested  in  2013  and  the  results  showed  four  times  higher  values  of  the  heat  loss  coefficient  UL (8.4  W/m²K)  than  what  has been reported for a commercial collector from Solarus. This value was assumed to be too large and it was assumed that the large value was a result of the test method used that time. Therefore, another aim was the comparison of the results achieved in this work with the results from the tests performed in 2013. The results of the thermal performance showed that the optical efficiency of the lower trough of the CPC‐T collector is 77±5% and the corresponding heat loss coefficient UL 4.84±0.20  W/m²K.  The  upper  trough  achieved  an  optical  efficiency  of  75±6  %  and  a  heat loss coefficient UL of 6.45±0.27 W/m²K. The results of the heat loss coefficients  are  valid  for  temperature  intervals  between  20°C  and  80°C.  The  different  absorber paintings have a significant impact on the results, the lower trough performs overall better.  The  results  achieved  in  this  thesis  show  lower  heat  loss  coefficients UL and higher optical efficiencies compared to the results from 2013.

High efficiency multi-junction (MJ) solar cells were packaged onto receiver systems. The efficiency change of concentrator cells under continuous high intensity illumination was done. Also, assessment of the receiver design on the overall performance of a Fresnel-type concentration system was investigated. We present on receiver designs including simulation results of their three-dimensional thermal operation and experimental results of tested packaged receivers to understand their efficiency in real world operation. Thermal measurements from solar simulators were obtained and used to calibrate the model in simulations. The best tested efficiency of 36.5% is obtained on a sample A receiver under 260 suns concentration by the XT-30 solar simulator and the corresponding cell operating temperature is ~30.5°C. The optimum copper thickness of a 5 cm by 5 cm simulated alumina receiver design was determined to be 6 mm and the corresponding cell temperature under 1000 suns concentration is ~36°C during operation.

Concentrator photovoltaics (CPV) is one of the most promising renewable technologies owing to its high efficiency, scalability, low operating expense, and small environmental impact. However, there is much research and advancements to be made before CPV is established as a cost competitive energy technology. To this end, Morgan Solar has developed the Sun Simba, an innovative light weight and low cost CPV module. Under the “Advancing Photonics for Economical Concentration Systems” (APECS) project, outdoor CPV test and measurement systems were designed and constructed at the University of Ottawa and at Little Rock, CA. The performance and reliability of development stage Sun Simba modules installed at the University of Ottawa is assessed. The Little Rock test system was constructed for purposes of future comparison and assessment. To properly assess the performance, instrumentation and data acquisition systems to measure meterological parameters and the associated electrical performance are described and the long-term performance of Sun Simba modules installed at the University of Ottawa is summarized. A finite element model of a cell-on-carrier assembly was constructed to explore the parameter space of the carrier and suggest improvements in carrier design. The effect of carrier geometry, material choices, and convective boundary conditions and their influence on the cell efficiency is determined. The modelling results connected to the measured data is used to estimate the heat sinking capability of the second generation Sun Simba modules.

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Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior (CAPES)
The searching for renewable energy sources has mobilized much of the scientific community, which work is tireless in pointing out feasible solutions to use clean energy. Solar energy is natural choice among others, because its availability and amount. A known way to use this energy is by focusing solar rays through parabolics, which allow rays concentration to a small area. The advantage of this type of project is to produce thermal energy at high temperatures. This energy has a wide application on producing other forms of energy such as electric power in turbines since solar concentrators provide steam at high pressure and temperature. The goal of this study is to build a solar concentration device and measure the energy produced, as well its efficiency in transformation. Thus, was built up a parabolic concentrator and a solar tracker to motion in three dimension, which allows device alignment towards incidence of solar rays. Was utilized a pumping system to flowing thermal fluid at high temperatures through the absorber. The energy balance of this thermal fluid, led to obtain behavior curves of net power and system efficiency. The experimental was divided in two parts. On the first one, was obtained the stagnation temperature and the other one, was measured the eficiency over a circulating thermal fluid. The stagnation temperature measured in december was 476,5°C, at 4:25PM. The second part of tests has shown an efficiency of 33% on first one assay. However when was utilizing another form to measure the solar irradiation (theoretic approach), the efficiency rises between 45% to 55%, regarding steady state conditions. Furthermore, this work allowed discussions to discover ways to increase the energy efficiency.
A busca por formas alternativas de energia tem mobilizado grande parte da comunidade científica, cujos trabalhos são incansáveis em apontar soluções viáveis para o aproveitamento das energias renováveis e limpas. A energia solar se destaca dentre todas pela sua disposição e quantidade. Uma forma já conhecida de sua utilização é através da concentração em sistemas parabólicos, que permitem o direcionamento dos raios do Sol para uma pequena área. A vantagem deste tipo de projeto é a produção de energia térmica a altas temperaturas e pressões. Essa energia concentrada possui grande aplicação, pois permite a conversão eficiente em energia elétrica, produzidas em turbinas a vapor. O objetivo deste trabalho foi construir um dispositivo termo-eletrônico para concentração solar e, com isso, quantificar a energia produzida, bem como sua eficiência. Assim sendo, foi construído um concentrador parabólico e um rastreador solar com movimento tridimensional, que permite o alinhamento do equipamento com a incidência dos raios do Sol. Foi utilizado ainda, para circulação no interior do absorvedor, um sistema de bombeamento de fluido térmico de alto ponto de ebulição e que não sofria deformação a altas temperaturas. O balanço energético no dispositivo permitiu obter as curvas de potência útil e da eficiência do sistema. O experimento foi dividido em duas partes. Na primeira parte, foi obtida a temperatura de estagnação e na outra parte, foi medida a eficiência energética sobre o fluido térmico em circulação. A temperatura de estagnação medida em dezembro foi de 476,5 °C, às 4:25 PM. A segunda parte dos testes mostrou uma eficiência de 33% no primeiro ensaio. No entanto, quando se utilizou uma outra forma de medir a irradiação solar (abordagem teórica), a eficiência aumentou, permanecendo entre 45% a 55%, considerando regime permanente. Além disso, possibilitou a discussão de formas de incrementar a sua eficiência.
Capes: 2012/2014

Thesis (S.B.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Dept. of Mechanical Engineering, 2010.
Cataloged from PDF version of thesis.
Includes bibliographical references (p. 44).
The need for innovation in the renewable energy sector is an ever-growing concern. With national-level disasters in the Gulf of Mexico, the necessity to begin the drive to develop effective and practical alternative energy sources becomes a more pressing concern. The CSPond project is an attempt to design a more simple solar thermal energy generation system that additionally addresses the intermittence issue. The CSPond system calls for a large container in which special salt mixtures are molten by solar thermal energy. The large container also acts as a thermal energy storage to address the intermittence issue that has held back the widespread application of solar energy systems. This thesis presents a validation analysis of a numerical simulation of a molten salt system. The simulation is part of a larger design effort to develop a viable solar thermal energy option which incorporates short to medium-term thermal storage. To validate the numerical model, a scaled version of the proposed solar vessel was used in the solar simulator built by Professor Slocum's PERG to simulate normal operation procedures. This data was then compared to the numerical simulations. This comparison found that the numerical simulation does not capture the dynamics of the temperature rise in the system, but that it does capture the Rayleigh-Taylor instabilities, characteristic of convection. Solutions to the issues identified above are proposed and analyzed. These include the consideration of several modes of thermal interactions with the environment, the optical interactions between the solar beam and the molten salt medium, modifying the boundary conditions and finally, including the temperature of all relevant thermophysical properties to better capture the convective behavior of the molten salt system.
by Juan Fernando Rodríguez Alvarado.
S.B.

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As alterações climáticas tem fomentado a busca por fontes renováveis de energia. Assim, novos coletores solares têm sido o foco de pesquisadores em todo o mundo para novos concentradores, novas configurações de instalação e o estudo da estratificação térmica para melhorar o desempenho do sistema de armazenamento térmico. O sistema proposto, ou seja, utilizando concentrador solar com tubo evacuado, proporciona linearidade e constância na sua eficiência em relação aos coletores de placas planas. A alteração proposta, ou seja, tubo com duas aberturas, uma para entrada do líquido frio e outra para saída do líquido aquecido, elimina a interface física entre a água quente na região voltada para o fluxo de calor solar e a água fria na região inferior do tubo. Essa alteração provoca redução na eficiência térmica, porém aumenta o volume de água aquecida por dia. O concentrador CPC mostrou-se um importante equipamento do sistema, uma vez que a os raios solares incidem em uma região longitudinal definida no tubo coletor solar, direcionado pela geometria do CPC. Com a utilização desse equipamento elimina-se a necessidade de espelhos com seguidores solares, tornando o sistema vulnerável a oscilações elétricas, encarecendo o projeto e consumindo energia elétrica. O desempenho do coletor é avaliado a partir de testes experimentais utilizando a Primeira Lei da Termodinâmica como análise da eficiência. Esses resultados são comparados aos conceitos teóricos descritos na literatura científica. O espaço anular evacuado do tubo também se mostrou um importante aliado na linearidade do coletor, reduzindo a resistência térmica do ar. A estratificação térmica é avaliada tanto pelo número de MIX (Primeira Lei da Termodinâmica) como pela proposta de um novo coeficiente de estratificação utilizando a exergia (Segunda Lei da Termodinâmica). Das seis configurações propostas para o sistema estudado, a mais viável foi obtida na configuração 3, ou seja, tubo evacuado com CPC.
Climate change has encouraged the search for renewable energy sources. Thus, new solar collectors have been the focus of researchers around the world with new hubs, new installation settings and the study of thermal stratification to improve the performance of the thermal storage system. The proposed system, ie using evacuated tube solar concentrator provides linearity and stability of efficiency compared to flat plate collectors. The proposed change, i.e. a tube with two openings, one for cold liquid inlet and the other for hot liquid outlet, eliminates the physical interface between the hot water in the region facing the solar heat flow and the cold water in the lower region of the tube. This change causes a reduction in thermal efficiency, however increases the volume of water heated per day. Two radiometers were also developed, one thermal and the other optical, and the thermal radiometer was chosen because it had a similar behavior to the solar collectors, thus reducing the cost of the experimental bench. The CPC concentrator proved to be important equipment, once the concentration of sunlight focus on a longitudinal region defined in the solar collector tube, directed by the CPC geometry. Using this equipment eliminates the need for mirrors with solar trackers, making the system vulnerable to electrical oscillations, making the project more expensive and consuming electricity. The collector performance is evaluated from experimental tests using the First Law of Thermodynamics as an efficiency analysis. These results are compared to the theoretical concepts described in the scientific literature. The annular evacuated space in the tube also proved to be an important ally in the linearity of the collector, reducing the thermal resistance of the air. Thermal stratification is evaluated both by the MIX number (First Law of Thermodynamics) and by the proposal of a new stratification coefficient using exergy (Second Law of Thermodynamics). Of the six configurations proposed the most efficient was obtained in the complete configuration, i.e. evacuated tube with CPC.

One of the traditional approaches to reduce costs of solar energy is to use inexpensive reflectors to focus the light onto highly efficient solar cells. Several research projects have resulted in designs, where the excess heat is used as solar thermal energy.

Unlike a solar thermal system, which has a selective surface to reduce the radiant heat loss, a CPV/T (Concentrating PhotoVoltaic/Thermal) system uses a receiver covered with solar cells with high thermal emittance.

This project analyzes whether the heat loss from the receiver can be reduced by covering parts of the receiver surface, not already covered with solar cells, with an optically selective coating. Comparing different methods of applying such a coating and the long-term stability of low cost alternatives are also part of the objectives of this project.

To calculate the heat loss reductions of the optically selective surface coating a mathematical model was developed, which takes the thermal emittances and the solar absorptances of the different surfaces into account. Furthermore, a full-size experiment was constructed to verify the theoretical predictions.

The coating results in a heat loss reduction of approximately 20 % in such a CPV/T system and one of the companies involved in the study is already changing their design to make use of the results.

Industrin står för 32% av den globala energianvändningen och majoriteten av industrins utsläpp sker vid förbränning av fossila bränslen för värmeanvändning. Hälften av industrins värmeanvändning uppskattas vara i temperaturer upp till 400 °C vilket är lämpligt för värme från solfångare.Klädesindustrin står för 10% av de globala växthusgasutsläppen och majoriteten av de utsläppen sker vid textilproduktion och flera av textilindustrins processer är i temperaturintervall som kan använda värme från solfångare likt Absolicons T160.Data från energianvändning hos textilfabriker har samlats in och beräkningar på energianvändning och utsläpp har gjorts för erhållna data. Solfångarnas energiberäkningar har gjorts med hjälp av simuleringar från Absolicon applikation Field Simulator. En 3-stegs plan gjordes för 2 stora textilfabriker i Indien som visar hur de skulle kunna eliminera sina utsläpp från energianvändning.Kartläggningen visar att textilindustrin till stor del använder fossila bränslen och de 5 största textilfabrikerna i denna rapport visar en energifördelning mellan värme och el på 85% respektive 15%. Utsläppen per producerad massa varor i kg för de 5 fabrikerna uppskattas vara i snitt 6,1 kgCO2e vilket motsvarar en förbränning av 2,1 kg brunkol.De två stora textilfabriker i Indien samlade utsläpp från energianvändning redovisas vara 686 ktCO2e. Värmeanvändningen i fabrikerna sänks i 3-stegsplanen med 17% och fossila bränslen ersätts med värme från solfångare och biomassa. För att täcka 68% av det nya värmebehovet med värme från solfångare så behövs det solfångarfält med en termisk effekt på cirka 400 MW och en yta på cirka 1,3 km2. De resterande 32% av värmebehovet ska komma från förbränning av cirka 100 000 ton biomassa per år.Industrin har möjlighet att sänka stora delar av sina utsläpp genom att ersätta fossila bränslen i värmeanvändningen med till exempel värme från solfångare och biomassa. För att täcka stora delar av värmeanvändningen med solfångarfält behövs lediga ytor runt om och på fabrikerna. Fossila bränslen har i dagsläget ett lågt pris i förhållande till dess utsläpp och tillämpning av globala utsläppsrätter eller skatter bör appliceras för att påskynda omställningen till utsläppsfri energi och lägre utsläpp.
The industry sector accounts for 32% of the global energy usage where the majority of the energy is being used as heat. Most of the heat is generated by burning fossil fuels which leads to heat use being the largest source of emissions in the sector. About half of energy used as in the industries are in temperatures up to 400 °C which is suitable for heat provided by solar collectors.The apparel industry accounts for 10% of the global carbon emissions and multiple of the industry processes used in textile production are in temperature ranges reachable with solar collectors such as Absolicons T160.Energy data was collected from textile factories and calculations of energy usage and emissions was made. The calculations for solar collectors was made with Absolicons web application Field Simulator. A 3-step plan was created to demonstrate how two textile factories in India could reach zero CO2 emissions.The analysis shows that the textile industry’s majority of energy is being used from fossil fuels to generate heat where the 5 largest factories in this report average energy is 85% as heat and 15% as electricity. The emissions per produced mass of goods in kg is an average of 6,1 kgCO2e at these 5 factories which is comparable to burning 2,1 kg of black coal.The two large textile factories combined emissions from energy usage is reported to be 686 ktCO2e. In the 3-step plan the heat usage is reduced by 17% and heat from fossil fuels are replaced by heat from solar collectors and biomass. To cover 68% of the new energy demand it would require solar fields with a total thermal capacity of about 400 MW and an area of 1,3 km2. The remaining 32% of heat demand would be covered by burning 100 000 tonne of biomass per year.The conclusion is that he industry sector has a huge potential of reducing their emissions by replacing fossil fuels for generating thermal energy by thermal energy from e.g. solar collectors or biomass. It will require available spaces close to or on top of the factories to be able cover large portions of the heat demand with solar collectors. The current prices of energy from fossil fuels is low compared to their emissions and a global carbon market or taxes should be applied to accelerate the change to clean energy and lower emissions.

El concentrador solar Fixed Mirror Solar Concentrator (FMSC) apareció en los años 70 con la finalidad de reducir costes en la producción de energía termoeléctrica. Este diseño consiste en un concentrador de reflector estacionario y foco móvil, presenta buena integrabilidad en cubiertas, y es capaz de alcanzar temperaturas entre 100 y 200ºC manteniendo una eficiencia aceptable. En esta tesis se expone una metodología para determinar el comportamiento del FMSC. Se ha desarrollado una herramienta de cálculo basada en el método de ray-tracing, que simula el trazado de los rayos solares en el sistema óptico. Con esta herramienta se ha analizado el comportamiento óptico y térmico del FMSC, y de la versión con espejos curvos Curved Slats Fixed Mirror Solar Concentrator (CSFMSC). Se ha realizado un análisis paramétrico para conocer la influencia de los distintos parámetros en el modificador de ángulo (IAM), y para obtener los diseños óptimos a una temperatura de 200ºC para tres climas en diferentes latitudes. Se han comparado los valores teóricos obtenidos mediante ray-tracing con dos prototipos ensayados, obteniendo un buen ajuste en ambos casos. Los ensayos han sido utilizados para determinar la curva de rendimiento de uno de los prototipos. Se ha hecho uso del método propuesto en la norma EN-12975-2:2006, combinado con valores de IAM obtenidos mediante ray-tracing. Se prueba que esta combinación puede ser útil para obtener la curva de rendimiento de colectores complejos con un modelo biaxial para el IAM.
The Fixed Mirror Solar Concentrator (FMSC) appeared during the 70s with the aim of reducing costs in the production of electricity in solar thermal power plants. This design consists of a concentrator with fixed reflector and moving receiver, has a very good integrability into building roofs and can reach temperatures between 100 and 200ºC with an acceptable efficiency. In this Thesis a methodology is presented for the determination of the behaviour of the FMSC. A simulation tool based on the forward ray-tracing method has been developed. The optical and thermal behaviour of the FMSC and its curved mirror variation called the Curved Slats Fixed Mirror Solar Concentrator (CSFMSC), have been analyzed with this tool. A parametric analysis has been carried out in order to determine the influence of the different parameters on the Incidence Angle Modifier (IAM) and to determine the optimal designs at a temperature of 200ºC for three different climates at different latitudes. The theoretical values obtained from the ray-tracing code have been compared with two experimental prototypes. The experimental and numerical results obtained show a good fit. The efficiency curve of one of the prototypes has been determined from the experimental tests. The methodology proposed in the norm EN-12975-2:2006 has been used in combination with IAM values obtained by ray-tracing. It has been shown that this combination can be effectively used to obtain the efficiency curve of complex collectors with a bi-axial IAM model.

This thesis presents advances in the design of solar concentrators. Based on the study of the Compact Linear Fresnel Re ector Concentrator "Etendue-Matched" (CLFREM), this thesis developed optical solutions based on the Simultaneous Multiple Surface method (SMS) and new approaches of analysis of the characterizing parameters of a solar concentrator. This thesis is organized into ve sections. In the rst section (Chapters 1 and 2) an introduction to the topics addressed in this work is presented together with a revision of the underlying basic optics. In the second section (Chapters 3, 4, and 5) a study of the concentrator CLFR-EM is presented. In the third section (Chapters 6 and 7) a XX SMS concentrator for continuum primaries is developed and presented. In the fourth section (Chapter 8) the application of the concept XX SMS for Fresnel primaries is explained and shown. Finally, in the fth section (Chapters 9 and 10) prospects for future developments and conclusions concerning this work are presented; Avan cos no desenho de concentradores solares para aplicações termicas Resumo: Esta tese apresenta desenvolvimentos na an álise de concentradores solares térmicos. Partindo do estudo realizado sobre o concentrador Compact Linear Fresnel Re ector "Etendue-Matched" (CLFR-EM), esta tese propoem solucoes opticas baseadas no método de Simultaneous Multiple Surface (SMS) e novas abordagens a análise dos parâmetros caracterizadores de um concentrador solar. A tese está organizada em cinco secções. Na primeira secção (Cap itulos 1 e 2) e realizada uma introdução aos temas abordados neste trabalho e uma revisão dos conceitos básicos de optica. Na segunda sec ção (Capitulos 3, 4 e 5) e apresentado um estudo do concentrador CLFREM. Na terceira secção(Capitulos 6 e 7) e apresentado um concentrador XX SMS para primários continuos para concentração máxima e receptores xos. Na quarta secção(Capitulo 8) mostra-se a aplicação do conceito XX SMS a prim arios Fresnel. Por ultimo, na quinta secção(Capitulos 9 e 10) são apresentadas perspectivas para desenvolvimentos futuros e realizadas conclusões sobre este trabalho.

The research demonstrated a balanced process, energy, and techno-economic argument for the utilisation of concentrated solar thermal energy, essentially, for hydrogen production and other industrial process systems. The representative case studies undertaken in the research addressed process and solar thermal energy modelling, energy integration, process optimisation, exergy assessment, and techno-economic evaluation as it relates to renewable hydrogen and hydrogen-based fuel production. The research established that economic assessment studies, process-energy configuration, choice of renewable energy, and mixed energy options are key to the shift from fossil fuel to green energy and industrial production to significantly reduce the impact of climate change.

Hydrogen storage properties of LiBH4 may be changed by interaction with other complex hydrides due to an intimate interaction between the respective alkaline metals and boron which facilitate a relatively larger hydrogen storage capacity. The cyclic stability of the following binary complex hydride systems LiBH4-Ca(BH4)2, LiBH4-NaBH4 and LiBH4-NaAlH4 shows significant reversibility and due to their relative high gravimetric H2 storage capacity and specific heat storage capacity, they may potentially act as heat storage materials.

L'objectiu de la present tesi és desenvolupar, optimitzar, fabricar i caracteritzar experimentalment un sistema solar de baixa concentració, fotovoltaic i tèrmic, per a integració arquitectònica en façanes on les cèl·lules estan submergides en un líquid dielèctric. L'objectiu està alineat cap al compliment de la directiva sobre eficiència energètica en edificis establerta per la Comissió Europea. Els sistemes solars fotovoltaics i tèrmics per integració en edificis permeten la cogeneració d'electricitat i calor al mateix edifici amb unes eficiències globals al voltant del 70% i utilitzen una menor superfície comparat amb un col·lector tèrmic i un mòdul fotovoltaic independents. D'altra banda, els sistemes de baixa concentració permeten reduir costos utilitzant cèl·lules solars estàndards, amb una àrea reduïda i seguiment en un sol eix. A més, la immersió de les cèl·lules en líquids dielèctrics comporta uns beneficis agregats com ara la reducció de les pèrdues de Fresnel i un millor control de la temperatura. La necessitat d'estudiar i desenvolupar aquests sistemes per a la seva integració en edificis ve donada per les qualitats prèviament descrites i per l’estudi de l'estat de l'art realitzat. El disseny proposat està compost d'un xassís cilíndric i una cavitat interna per on circula el líquid dielèctric (aigua desionitzada o alcohol isopropílic) en el qual hi ha les cèl·lules submergides. Cada mòdul segueix l'altura solar rotant i està dissenyat per ser col·locat en files formant una matriu. L'aparença del conjunt és similar a la de les lames que es troben normalment en les finestres. S’ha implementat un moviment secundari que controla la distància vertical entre mòduls per evitar l’ombra entre ells mateixos i controla la il·luminació interior. Per dur a terme un desenvolupament òptim, s'ha modelat la distribució espectral de la llum solar incident a la qual es veuen exposades les cèl·lules solars en condicions reals. S’ha dut a terme un anàlisis exhaustiu dels líquids dielèctrics susceptibles de complir amb els requeriments per a la present aplicació. S'ha modelat la absortivitat / emissivitat de les cèl·lules de silici comercials en un rang espectral que va des del ultraviolat fins a l'infraroig mitjà i s'ha validat experimentalment. A partir d'aquí, s’ha desenvolupat un algoritme de traçat de raigs que computa l'energia per optimitzar el disseny òptic del concentrador per posteriorment fabricar-lo i analitzar-lo mitjançant una simulació CFD. Fet que ens permet caracteritzar el sistema tèrmicament i òpticament. Finalment, s'ha realitzat una simulació energètica amb el sistema instal·lat a les finestres d'una casa estàndard per tal d'avaluar quines parts de les demandes energètiques de l'edifici és capaç de satisfer. Aquesta simulació s’ha dut a terme en tres localitzacions diferents. El rendiment del sistema ha estat estudiat en llocs caracteritzats per hiverns suaus i altures solars no molt elevades, obtenint resultats satisfactoris cobrint una gran part de la demanda de climatització, d'aigua calenta sanitària i elèctrica.
El objetivo de la presente tesis es desarrollar, optimizar, fabricar y caracterizar experimentalmente un sistema solar de baja concentración, fotovoltaico y térmico, para integración arquitectónica en fachadas donde las células están sumergidas en un líquido dieléctrico. Este objetivo está perfectamente alineado con el cumplimiento de la directiva sobre eficiencia energética en edificios establecida por la Comisión Europea. Los sistemas solares fotovoltaicos y térmicos para integración en edificios atesoran la cogeneración de electricidad y calor en el mismo edificio con unas eficiencias globales alrededor del 70% y utilizando una menor superficie que si incorporamos un colector térmico y un módulo fotovoltaico separados. Por otra parte, los sistemas de baja concentración permiten reducir costes utilizando células solares estándar, con un área reducida y seguimiento en un solo eje. Además, la inmersión de las células en líquidos dieléctricos conlleva unos beneficios agregados como son la reducción de las pérdidas de Fresnel y un mejor control de la temperatura. Del estado del arte realizado y las cualidades previamente descritas, se desprende la necesidad de estudiar y desarrollar estos sistemas para su integración en edificios. El diseño propuesto está compuesto de un chasis cilíndrico y una cavidad interna por donde circula el líquido dieléctrico (agua desionizada o alcohol isopropílico) en el cual están las células sumergidas. Cada módulo sigue la altura solar rotando y está diseñado para ser colocado en filas formando una matriz. De este modo, la apariencia del conjunto es similar a la de las lamas que se encuentran comúnmente en ventanas. Además, un movimiento secundario que regula la distancia vertical entre los módulos para evitar sombreo entre ellos mismos y controlar la iluminación interior, ha sido implementado. Para llevar a cabo un desarrollo óptimo, se ha modelado la distribución espectral de la luz solar incidente a la cual se ven expuestas las células solares en condiciones reales. Se ha realizado un análisis exhaustivo de los líquidos dieléctricos susceptibles de cumplir con los requerimientos para la presente aplicación. Se ha modelado la absortividad/emisividad de las células de silicio comerciales en un rango espectral que va desde el ultravioleta hasta el infrarrojo medio y se ha validado experimentalmente. A partir de aquí, se ha desarrollado un algoritmo de trazado de rayos para optimizar el diseño óptico del concentrador con el fin de posteriormente fabricarlo y analizarlo mediante una simulación CFD. Hecho que nos permite caracterizarlo ópticamente y térmicamente. Finalmente, se ha realizado una simulación energética con el sistema instalado sobre las ventanas de una casa estándar para evaluar que parte de las demandas energéticas del edificio es capaz de satisfacer. Esta simulación se ha realizado en tres localizaciones distintas. El rendimiento del sistema ha sido estudiado en lugares caracterizados por inviernos suaves y alturas solares no muy elevadas, cubriéndose una gran parte de las demandas de agua caliente sanitaria, eléctricas y de climatización.
The goal of this thesis is to develop, optimize, fabricate and experimentally test a low-concentrating photovoltaic thermal system (CPVT) for building façade integration where the cells are directly immersed in a dielectric liquid. The objective sought is perfectly aligned with the Energy Performance Building Directive established by the European Commission in terms of energy efficiency. Building-integrated PVT systems present an on-site cogeneration of electricity and heat with global efficiencies around 70% and lower space utilization compared to a separate thermal collector and PV module. On the other hand, low-concentrating systems improve the cost effectiveness by using standard cells, single axis-tracking and reduced cell areas. In addition, direct-immersion of solar cells in dielectric liquids brings associated benefits such as a reduction of Fresnel losses and a better temperature control. From the state-of-the-art performed and the previous facts, the need for further developing and studying these systems for building integration purposes was found. The proposed design is composed by a cylindrical chassis and an inner cavity filled with the circulating dielectric liquid (deionized water or isopropyl alcohol) in which the cells are immersed. The module tracks the solar height by rotation and it is designed to be placed in rows as an array so that the appearance is akin to ordinary window blinds. A secondary movement has been implemented to control the vertical distance between modules and to avoid shading between them while provide lighting control. For an appropriate development, the spectral distribution of the incident solar irradiance to which solar cells are exposed under real working conditions has been modelled. An in-depth analysis of suitable dielectric liquid candidates based on the required properties for this application has been performed. The absorptivity/emissivity of standard silicon solar cells has been modeled from the ultraviolet to the mid-infrared and validated by an experimental measurement. Then, a full ray-tracing algorithm was developed to optimize the concentrator optical design and the optimum collector was fabricated and analyzed by a CFD simulation to thermally characterize the system. Finally, an energetic simulation with the concentrators superimposed in front of the windows in a standard house aiming to partially cover the building demands has been performed for three locations. The system performance has been studied for locations with mild winters and latitudes not achieving very high solar heights with satisfactory solar fractions regarding domestic hot water, electrical and space heating and cooling demands.

Concentrating solar power (CSP) plant is a promising technology that exploits direct normal irradiation (DNI) from the sun to be converted into thermal energy in the solar field. One of the advantages of CSP technology is the possibility to store thermal energy in thermal energy storage (TES) for later production of electricity. The integration of thermal storage allows the CSP plant to be a dispatchable system which is defined as having a capability to schedule its operation using an innovative dispatch planning tool. Considering weather forecast and electricity price profile in the market, dispatch planning tool uses an optimization algorithm. It aims to shift the schedule of electricity delivery to the hours with high electricity price. These hours are usually reflected by the high demand periods. The implementation of dispatch optimizer can benefit the CSP plants economically from the received financial revenues. This study proposes an optimization of dispatch planning strategies for the parabolic trough CSP plant under two dispatch approaches: solar driven and storage driven. The performed simulation improves the generation of electricity which reflects to the increase of financial revenue from the electricity sale in both solar and storage driven approaches. Moreover, the optimization also proves to reduce the amount of dumped thermal energy from the solar field.

One of the most relevant problems to solve at a planetary scale is the access to an affordable clean source of energy as CO2 equivalent emissions should be reduced significantly. Some authors aim for a zero emissions target for 2050. Renewable energies will play a leading role in this energy transition, and solar energy with storage is a promising technology exploring a renewable and worldwide available resource. Within the present thesis component development like a new thermal storage thermocline tank design or having latent heat storage capability are technological developments that have been pursued and analyzed on a system perspective basis, focusing on reducing the LCOE value of a commercial STE plant using TRNSYS software. Material research with molten salts mixtures and cement based materials has been performed at lab scale. A fully validation should occur through a 13 partners pan-European H2020 project called NEWSOL which has been developed supported on the laboratory data obtained. Moreover, incorporation of local available material, “modern slag” from an old mine of Alentejo region, was also studied. The material could be used as an aggregate incorporated into calcium aluminate cement (CAC) or as filler. This would help to solve a local environmental complex problem related to soil, air and water pollution due to heavy metals and mining activity in Mina de São Domingos, Southeast of Portugal. The integration of these results underlies a broad energy transition model, a proposal is presented in this thesis, with the aim to foster development towards a sustainable usage of resources and promote clean technologies especially in the energy sector. This model can be locally adapted depending on the pattern of existing industries. The goal is to achieve a smooth transition into a clean tech energy society in line with the target of achieving zero emissions for 2050; Optimização Energética de uma Central de Concentração Solar com Armazenamento de Energia Resumo: Um dos problemas mais relevantes a resolver a uma escala planetária é o acesso, com um custo moderado, a fontes limpas de energia considerando que as emissões equivalentes de CO2 derão ser reduzidas drasticamente. Alguns autores ambicionam mesmo um objetivo de zero emissões em 2050. As energias renováveis irão desempenhar um papel preponderante nesta transição energética, sendo que a energia solar com armazenamento é uma tecnologia promissora que aproveita um recurso renovável e disponível em boa parte do Planeta. Na presente tese foi realizado o desenvolvimento de componentes nomeadamente o design que um novo tanque do tipo termocline, ou de novos elementos recorrendo ao calor latente, desenvolvimentos tecnológicos que foram analizados de uma perspectiva de sistema, dando o enfoque na redução do custo nivelado da electricidade (LCOE) para uma planta Termosolar usando o software TRNSYS. Foi também realizada investigação em laboratório ao nível dos materiais com várias misturas de sais fundidos inclusivé em contacto directo com materiais de base cimenticia. Uma validação completa deverá ocorrer no projeto NEWSOL do programa H2020 que reúne um consórcio de 13 parceiros europeus e que foi preparado e submetido tendo por base os resultados laboratoriais obtidos. Adicionalmente, incorporação de material disponível (escória de minério) de uma mina abandonada da região do Alentejo foi outro dos aspectos estudados. Verificou-se que este material poderá ser utilizado como agregado num ligante do tipo cimento de aluminato de cálcio (CAC) ou como “filler”. Este re-aproveitamento resolveria um problema ambiental complexo derivado do elevado conteúdo de metais pesados resultantes da actividade de mineração e que actualamente provocam poluição do solo, água e ar na área da Mina de São Domingos, Sudeste de Portugal. Estes progressos deverão ser integrados num modelo de transição energética mais amplo. Na presente tese, uma proposta concreta é apresentada, com o objectivo de incentivar o desenvolvimento na direção de uma utilização sustentável dos recursos e a promoção de tecnologias limpas nomeadamente no sector da energia. Este modelo poderá ser adaptado localmente dependendo do padrão de indústrias existente. O objectivo é atingir uma transição suave para uma sociedade de energias limpas em linha com o objectivo de atingir zero emissões de CO2 equivalente em 2050.

Thesis (S.M.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Dept. of Mechanical Engineering, 2011.
Cataloged from PDF version of thesis.
Includes bibliographical references (p. 65-67).
In this thesis, two new models are introduced for the purposes of (i) locating sites in hillside terrain suitable for central receiver solar thermal plants and (ii) optimization of heliostat field layouts for any terrain. Additionally, optimization of heliostat canting, is presented as an application of the heliostat layout optimization model. Using the site selection model, suitable sites are located based on heliostat field efficiency and average annual insolation. By iteratively defining the receiver location and evaluating the corresponding site efficiency, by sampling elevation data points from within the defined heliostat field boundary, efficiency can be mapped as a function of the receiver location. The case studies presented illustrate the use of the tool for two field configurations, both with ground-level receivers. The heliostat layout optimization model includes a detailed calculation of the annual average optical efficiency accounting for projection losses, shading & blocking, aberration and atmospheric attenuation. The model is based on a discretization of the heliostats and can be viewed as ray tracing with a carefully selected distribution of rays. The prototype implementation is sufficiently fast to allow for field optimization. In addition, inspired by the spirals of the phyllotaxis disc pattern, a new biomimetic placement heuristic is described and evaluated which generates layouts of both higher efficiency and better ground coverage than radially staggered designs. Case studies demonstrate that the new pattern achieves a better trade-off between land area usage and efficiency, i.e., it can reduce the area requirement significantly for any desired efficiency. Finally, heliostat canting is considered. Traditionally, canting has been parabolic, in which the focal point of the heliostat lies on the axis of symmetry. Two alternative off-axis canting methods are compared in this thesis, fixed facet (static) canting in which the facet alignment is optimized for a single design day and time and then rigidly mounted to the frame and dynamic canting in which the facets are actively controlled such that the center of each facet is always perfectly focusing. For both methods, two case studies are considered, a power tower with planar heliostat field and a hillside heliostat field which directs light down to a ground-level salt pond.
by Corey J. Noone.
S.M.

Mechanical Engineering
Ph.D.
Thermal energy storage systems as an integral part of concentrated solar power plants improve the performance of the system by mitigating the mismatch between the energy supply and the energy demand. Using a phase change material (PCM) to store energy increases the energy density, hence, reduces the size and cost of the system. However, the performance is limited by the low thermal conductivity of the PCM, which decreases the heat transfer rate between the heat source and PCM, which therefore prolongs the melting, or solidification process, and results in overheating the interface wall. To address this issue, heat pipes are embedded in the PCM to enhance the heat transfer from the receiver to the PCM, and from the PCM to the heat sink during charging and discharging processes, respectively. In the current study, the thermal-fluid phenomenon inside a heat pipe was investigated. The heat pipe network is specifically configured to be implemented in a thermal energy storage unit for a concentrated solar power system. The configuration allows for simultaneous power generation and energy storage for later use. The network is composed of a main heat pipe and an array of secondary heat pipes. The primary heat pipe has a disk-shaped evaporator and a disk-shaped condenser, which are connected via an adiabatic section. The secondary heat pipes are attached to the condenser of the primary heat pipe and they are surrounded by PCM. The other side of the condenser is connected to a heat engine and serves as its heat acceptor. The applied thermal energy to the disk-shaped evaporator changes the phase of working fluid in the wick structure from liquid to vapor. The vapor pressure drives it through the adiabatic section to the condenser where the vapor condenses and releases its heat to a heat engine. It should be noted that the condensed working fluid is returned to the evaporator by the capillary forces of the wick. The extra heat is then delivered to the phase change material through the secondary heat pipes. During the discharging process, secondary heat pipes serve as evaporators and transfer the stored energy to the heat engine. Due to the different geometry of the heat pipe network, a new numerical procedure was developed. The model is axisymmetric and accounts for the compressible vapor flow in the vapor chamber as well as heat conduction in the wall and wick regions. Because of the large expansion ratio from the adiabatic section to the primary condenser, the vapor flow leaving the adiabatic pipe section of the primary heat pipe to the disk-shaped condenser behaves similarly to a confined jet impingement. Therefore, the condensation is not uniform over the main condenser. The feature that makes the numerical procedure distinguished from other available techniques is its ability to simulate non-uniform condensation of the working fluid in the condenser section. The vapor jet impingement on the condenser surface along with condensation is modeled by attaching a porous layer adjacent to the condenser wall. This porous layer acts as a wall, lets the vapor flow to impinge on it, and spread out radially while it allows mass transfer through it. The heat rejection via the vapor condensation is estimated from the mass flux by energy balance at the vapor-liquid interface. This method of simulating heat pipe is proposed and developed in the current work for the first time. Laboratory cylindrical and complex heat pipes and an experimental test rig were designed and fabricated. The measured data from cylindrical heat pipe were used to evaluate the accuracy of the numerical results. The effects of the operating conditions of the heat pipe, heat input, and portion of heat transferred to the phase change material, main condenser geometry, primary heat pipe adiabatic radius and its location as well as secondary heat pipe configurations have been investigated on heat pipe performance. The results showed that in the case with a tubular adiabatic section in the center, the complex interaction of convective and viscous forces in the main condenser chamber, caused several recirculation zones to form in this region, which made the performance of the heat pipe convoluted. The recirculation zone shapes and locations affected by the geometrical features and the heat input, play an important role in the condenser temperature distributions. The temperature distributions of the primary condenser and secondary heat pipe highly depend on the secondary heat pipe configurations and main condenser spacing, especially for the cases with higher heat inputs and higher percentages of heat transfer to the PCM via secondary heat pipes. It was found that changing the entrance shape of the primary condenser and the secondary heat pipes as well as the location and quantity of the secondary heat pipes does not diminish the recirculation zone effects. It was also concluded that changing the location of the adiabatic section reduces the jetting effect of the vapor flow and curtails the recirculation zones, leading to higher average temperature in the main condenser and secondary heat pipes. The experimental results of the conventional heat pipe are presented, however the data for the heat pipe network is not included in this dissertation. The results obtained from the experimental analyses revealed that for the transient operation, as the heat input to the system increases and the conditions at the condenser remains constant, the heat pipe operating temperature increases until it reaches another steady state condition. In addition, the effects of the working fluid and the inclination angle were studied on the performance of a heat pipe. The results showed that in gravity-assisted orientations, the inclination angle has negligible effect on the performance of the heat pipe. However, for gravity-opposed orientations, as the inclination angle increases, the temperature difference between the evaporator and condensation increases which results in higher thermal resistance. It was also found that if the heat pipe is under-filled with the working fluid, the capillary limit of the heat pipe decreases dramatically. However, overfilling of the heat pipe with working fluid degrades the heat pipe performance due to interfering with the evaporation-condensation mechanism.
Temple University--Theses

Thermal energy storage (TES) systems play a crucial part in the success of concentrated solar power as a reliable thermal energy source. The economics and operational effectiveness of TES systems are the subjects of continuous research for improvement, in order to lower the localized cost of energy (LCOE). This study investigates the use of spherical tanks and their role in sensible heat storage in liquids. In the two tank system, typical cylindrical tanks were replaced by spherical tanks of the same volume and subjected to heat loss, stress analysis, and complete tank cost evaluation. The comparison revealed that replacing cylindrical tanks by spherical tanks in two tank molten salt storage systems could result in a 30% reduction in heat loss from the wall, with a comparable reduction in total cost. For a one tank system (or thermocline system), a parametric computational fluid dynamic (CFD) study was performed in order to obtain fluid flow parameters that govern the formation and maintenance of a thermocline in a spherical tank. The parametric study involved the following dimensionless numbers: Re (500-7500), Ar (0.5-10), Fr (0.5-3), and Ri (1-100). The results showed that within the examined range of flow characteristics, the inlet Fr number is the most influential parameter in spherical tank thermocline formation and maintenance, and the largest tank thermal efficiency in a spherical tank is achieved at Fr = 0.5. Experimental results were obtained to validate the CFD model used in the parametric study. For the flow parameters within the current model, the use of an eddy viscosity turbulence model with variable turbulence intensity delivered the best agreement with experimental results. Overall, the experimental study using a spherical one tank setup validated the results of the CFD model with acceptable accuracy.

Thesis (MEng)--Stellenbosch University, 2014.
ENGLISH ABSTRACT: Most rural African villages enjoy high levels of sunlight, but rolling out solar power generation technology to tap into this renewable energy resource at remote rural sites in Africa pose a number of design challenges. To meet these challenges, a project has been initiated to design, build and test/evaluate a knock down 3 kW peak electrical stand-alone self-tracking dual-axis concentrating solar power system. This study focusses on the mechatronic engineering aspects in the design and development of a dynamic mechatronic platform and digital electronic control system for the stand-alone concentrating solar power system. Design specifications require an accurate automatic positioner and control system for a motorized parabolic solar reflector with an optical solar harnessing capacity of 12 kWt at solar noon. It must be suitable for stand-alone rural power generation. This study presents a conceptual design and engineering prototype of a balanced cantilever tilt-and-swing dual-axis slew drive actuation means as mechatronic solar tracking mobility platform for a ∼12 m2 lightweight parabolic solar concentrator. Digital automation of the concentrated solar platform is implemented using an industrial Siemens S7-1200 programmable logic controller (PLC) with digital remote control interfacing, pulse width modulated direct current driving, and electronic open loop/closed loop solar tracking control. The design and prototype incorporates off-the-shelf components to support local manufacturing at reduced cost and generally meets the goal of delivering a dynamic mechatronic platform for a concentrating solar power system that is easy to transport, assemble and install at remote rural sites in Africa. Real-time experiments, conducted in the summer of South Africa, validated and established the accuracy of the engineering prototype positioning system. It shows that the as-designed and -built continuous solar tracking performs to an optical accuracy of better than 1.0◦ on both the azimuth and elevation tracking axes; and which is also in compliance with the pre-defined design specifications. Structural aspects of the prototype parabolic dish are evaluated and optimized by other researchers while the Stirling and power handling units are under development in parallel projects. Ultimately, these joint research projects aim to produce a locally manufactured knock down do-it-yourself concentrated solar power generation kit, suitable for deployment into Africa.
AFRIKAANSE OPSOMMING: Landelike gebiede in Afrika geniet hoë vlakke van sonskyn, maar die ontwerp van betroubare sonkrag tegnologie vir die benutting van hierdie hernubare energie hulpbron by afgeleë gebiede in Afrika bied verskeie uitdagings. Om hierdie uitdagings te oorkom, is ’n projek van stapel gestuur om ’n afbreekbare 3 kW piek elektriese alleenstaande selfaangedrewe dubbel-as son-konsentreeder te ontwerp, bou en te toets. Hierdie studies fokus op die megatroniese ingenieurs-aspekte in die ontwerp en ontwikkeling van ’n dinamiese megatroniese platform en ’n digitale elektroniese beheerstelsel vir die alleenstaande gekonsentreerde sonkrag stelsel. Ontwerp spesifikasies vereis ’n akkurate outomatiese posisionering en beheer stelsel vir ’n motor aangedrewe paraboliese son reflekteerder met ’n optiesekollekteer- kapasiteit van 12 kWt by maksimum sonhoogte, en veral geskik wees vir afgeleë sonkrag opwekking. Hierdie studie lewer ’n konsepsuele ontwerp en ingenieurs-prototipe van ’n gebalanseerde dubbelas swaai-en-kantel swenkrat aandrywingsmeganisme as megatroniese sonvolg platform vir ’n ∼12 m2 liggewig paraboliese son konsentreerder. Digitale outomatisering van die son konsentreerder platform is geimplementeer op ’n industriële Siemens S7-1200 programmeerbare logiese beheerder (PLB) met ’n digitale afstandbeheer koppelvlak, puls-wydte-gemoduleerde gelykstroom aandrywing en elektroniese ooplus en geslote-lus sonvolg beheer. Die ontwerp en prototipe maak gebruik van beskikbare komponente om lae-koste plaaslike vervaardiging te ondersteun en slaag in die algemeen in die doel om ’n dinamiese megatroniese platform vir ’n gekonsentreerde sonkrag stelsel te lewer wat maklik vervoer, gebou en opgerig kan word op afgeleë persele in Afrika. Intydse eksperimente is gedurende die somer uitgevoer om die akkuraatheid van die prototipe posisionering sisteem te evalueer. Dit toon dat die sisteem die son deurlopend volg met ’n akkuraatheid beter as 1.0◦ op beide die azimut en elevasie sonvolg asse, wat voldoen aan die ontwerp spesifikasies. Strukturele aspekte van die prototipe paraboliese skottel word deur ander navorsers geëvalueer en verbeter terwyl die Stirling-eenheid en elektriese sisteme in parallelle projekte ontwikkel word. Die uiteindelike doel met hierdie groepnavorsing is om ’n plaaslik vervaardigde doen-dit-self sonkrag eenheid te ontwikkel wat in Afrika ontplooi kan word.

Concentrated solar power (CSP) is a fast-growing technology for electricity production. With mirrors (heliostats) irradiation of the sun is concentrated onto a receiver run through by a heat transfer fluid (HTF). The fluid by that reaches high temperatures and is used to drive a steam turbine for electricity production. A CSP power plant is most often coupled with an energy storage unit, where the HTF is stored before it is dispatched and used to generate electricity. Electricity is most often sold at an open market with a fluctuating spot-prices. It is therefore of high importance to generate and sell the electricity at the highest paid hours, increasingly important also since the governmental support mechanisms aimed to support renewable energy production is faded out since the technology is starting to be seen as mature enough to compete by itself on the market. A solar power plant thus has an operational protocol determining when energy is dispatched, and electricity is sold. These protocols are often pre-defined which means an optimal production is not achieved since irradiation and electricity selling price vary. In this master thesis, an optimization algorithm for electricity sales is designed (in MATLAB). The optimization algorithm is designed by for a given timeframe solve an optimization problem where the objective is maximized revenue from electricity sales from the solar power plant. The function takes into consideration hourly varying electricity spot price, hourly varying solar field efficiency, energy flows in the solar power plant, start-up costs (from on to off) plus conditions for the logic governing the operational modes. Two regular pre-defined protocols were designed to be able to compare performance in a solar power plant with the optimized dispatch protocol. These three operational protocols were evaluated in three different markets; one with fluctuating spot price, one regulated market of three fixed price levels and one in spot market but with zero-prices during sunny hours. It was found that the optimized dispatch protocol gave both bigger electricity production and revenue in all markets, but with biggest differences in the spot markets. To evaluate in what type of powerplant the optimizer performs best, a parametric analysis was made where size of storage and power block, the time-horizon of optimizer and the cost of start-up were varied. For size of storage and power block it was found that revenue increased with increased size, but only up to the level where the optimizer can dispatch at optimal hours. After that there is no increase in revenue. Increased time horizon gives increased revenue since it then has more information. With a 24-hour time horizon, morning price-peaks will be missed for example. To change start-up costs makes the power plant less flexible and with fewer cycles, without affect income much.
Koncentrerad solkraft (CSP) är en snabbt växande teknologi för elektricitets-produktion. Med speglar (heliostater) koncentreras solstrålar på en mottagare som genomflödas av en värmetransporteringsvätska. Denna uppnår därmed höga temperaturer vilket används för att driva en ångturbin för att generera el. Ett CSP kraftverk är oftast kopplat till en energilagringstank, där värmelagringsvätskan lagras innan den används för att generera el. El säljs i de flesta fall på en öppen elmarknad, där spotpriset fluktuerar. Det är därför av stor vikt att generera elen och sälja den vid de timmar med högst elpris, vilket också är av ökande betydelse då supportmekanismerna för att finansiellt stödja förnybar energiproduktion används i allt mindre grad för denna teknologi då den börjar anses mogen att konkurrera utan. Ett solkraftverk har således ett driftsprotokoll som bestämmer när el ska genereras. Dessa protokoll är oftast förutbestämda, vilket innebär att en optimal produktion inte fås då exempelvis elspotpriset och solinstrålningen varierar. I detta examensarbete har en optimeringsalgoritm för elförsäljning designats (i MATLAB). Optimeringsscriptet är designat genom att för en given tidsperiod lösa ett optimeringsproblem där objektivet är maximerad vinst från såld elektricitet från solkraftverket. Funktionen tar hänsyn till timvist varierande elpris, timvist varierande solfältseffektivitet, energiflöden i solkraftverket, kostnader för uppstart (on till off) samt villkor för att logiskt styra de olika driftlägena. För att jämföra prestanda hos ett solkraftverk med det optimerade driftsprotokollet skapades även två traditionella förutbestämda driftprotokoll. Dessa tre driftsstrategier utvärderades i tre olika marknader, en med ett varierande el-spotpris, en i en reglerad elmarknad med tre prisnivåer och en i en marknad med spotpris men noll-pris under de soliga timmarna. Det fanns att det optimerade driftsprotokollet gav både större elproduktion och högre vinst i alla marknader, men störst skillnad fanns i de öppna spotprismarknaderna. För att undersöka i vilket slags kraftverk som protokollet levererar mest förbättring i gjordes en parametrisk analys där storlek på lagringstank och generator varierades, samt optimerarens tidshorisont och kostnad för uppstart. För lagringstank och generator fanns att vinst ökar med ökande storlek upp tills den storlek optimeraren har möjlighet att fördela produktion på dyrast timmar. Ökande storlek efter det ger inte ökad vinst. Ökande tidshorisont ger ökande vinst eftersom optimeraren då har mer information. Att ändra uppstartkostnaden gör att solkraftverket uppträder mindre flexibelt och har färre cykler, dock utan så stor påverkan på inkomst.

El protagonisme creixent de la tecnologia solar termoelèctrica entre el ventall de les energies renovables es centra en la seva capacitat d’adaptar la seva producció a la demanda energètica exigida. La gestionabilitat d’aquest tipus de centrals s’ha aconseguit amb la integració de sistemes d’emmagatzematge tèrmic en les mateixes. La major part dels sistemes d’emmagatzematge tèrmic, ja sigui els que s’utilitzen a nivell comercial com aquells que es troben en fase de desenvolupament proposen l’ús de sals inorgàniques foses com a medi d’emmagatzematge. Aquestes sals presenten l’inconvenient de la seva alta corrosivitat a altes temperatures. Per un costat, s’han analitzat els fenòmens de corrosió associats a les sals solars utilitzades a la planta pilot TES-PS10 mitjançant la instal·lació de racks de testimonis de corrosió als tancs de sals. A més, al finalitzar l’operació de la instal·lació pilot s’ha dut a terme un estudi post-mortem dels seus. Finalment, amb l’objectiu d’abaratir el cost de l’inventari de sals, s’ha analitzat a nivell de laboratori la corrosivitat de diferents mescles de nitrats de baixa puresa. El segon bloc de la tesi es centra en els sistemes d’emmagatzematge tèrmic en calor latent. Concretament, s’analitza la corrosió associada a la mescla peritèctica 46% LiOH-54% KOH proposta com a material de canvi de fase en un mòdul d’evaporació d’instal·lacions termoelèctriques de generació directa de vapor. D’aquesta forma, s’han dut a terme una sèrie d’assajos a nivell de laboratori amb l’objectiu d’avaluar el comportament envers la corrosió de diferents materials en contacte amb aquests hidròxids.
El creciente protagonismo de la tecnología solar se centra en su capacidad para adaptar su producción a la demanda energética exigida. La gestionabilidad de este tipo de centrales se ha conseguido mediante la integración de sistemas de almacenamiento térmico en sales fundidas. El uso de sales fundidas en sistemas de almacenamiento térmico presenta el hándicap de su corrosividad a alta temperatura. El primer bloque de la Tesis analiza los fenómenos de corrosión asociados a las sales solares en la planta piloto TES-PS10 mediante la instalación de racks de corrosión en los tanques de sales. Además, se ha llevado a cabo un estudio post-mortem de componentes de la instalación. Finalmente, se ha analizado a nivel de laboratorio la corrosividad de distintas mezclas de nitrato de baja pureza. El segundo bloque de la tesis se centra en los sistemas de almacenamiento en calor latente. En concreto, se analiza la corrosión asociada a la mezcla peritéctica 46% LiOH-54% KOH propuesta como material de cambio de fase en el módulo de evaporación en plantas de generación directa de vapor. De este modo, se han llevado a cabo ensayos de corrosión a nivel de laboratorio para evaluar el comportamiento a corrosión de distintos materiales en contacto con los hidróxidos.
The growing of concentrated solar power (CSP) within the different renewable energies is due to its ability to adapt the production to the required energy demand. The dispatchability of this type of plants has been achieved through the integration of molten salts thermal storage systems (TES). Molten salts have a handicap associated to their corrosiveness at high temperature. First block of this Thesis analyzes the corrosion phenomena associated with solar salts used in TES-PS10 pilot plant by installing corrosion racks in the salt tanks. Moreover, a postmortem study of different components was performed after facility shut down. Finally, in order to reduce the cost of the salt inventory in TES systems, the corrosivity of different low purity nitrates mixtures has been analyzed at laboratory scale. The second block of the Thesis focuses on latent heat storage systems. Specifically, it has been analyzed the corrosion associated with the proposed 46% LiOH-54% KOH peritectic mixture as a phase change material in the evaporation module of direct steam generation (DSG) CSP plants. Thus, corrosion tests have been performed at laboratory level to evaluate the corrosion performance of several materials in contact with such hydroxides.

>Magister Scientiae - MSc
Phase change material (PCM) through latent heat of molten salt, is a convincing way for thermal energy storage in CSP applications due to its high volume density. Molten salt, with (60% NaNO3 and 40% KNO3) has been used extensively for energy storage however; the low thermal conductivity and specific heat have limited its large implementation in solar applications. For that, molten salt with the additive of silver nanowires (AgNWs) was synthesized and characterized. This research project aims to investigate the thermophysical properties enhancement of nanosalt (Mixture of molten salt and silver nanowires). The results obtained showed that by simply adjusting the temperature, Silver nanowires with high aspect ratio have been synthesized through the enhanced PVP polyol process method. SEM results revealed a network of silver nanowires and TEM results confirmed the presence of silver nanowires with an average diameter of 129 nm and 16 μm in length.

This project was a step forward in establishing an effective high-pressurised cleaning procedure to investigate soil detachment from CSP reflectors through fluid dynamic simulations evaluated the overall force generated by the jet on dust particles. Outcomes reveal an increase of cleaning efficiency of high-pressure spray jets when the standoff distance is in the range X = 6D-15D with the angle of impingement set to =75° and inlet pressure in the range Pin = 50-70 bar.

Solar Tower Power Plants with thermal energy storage are a promising technology for dispatchable renewable energy in the near future. Storage integration makes possible to shift the electricity production to more profitable peak hours. Usually two tanks are used to store cold and hot fluids, but this means both higher related investment costs and difficulties during the operation of the variable volume tanks. Another solution can be a single tank thermocline storage in a multi-layered configuration. In such tank both latent and sensible fillers are employed to decrease the related cost by up to 30% and maintain high efficiencies.  The Master thesis hereby presented describes the modelling and implementation of a thermocline-like multi-layered single tank storage in a STPP. The research work presents a comprehensive methodology to determine under which market structures such devices can outperform the more conventional two tank storage systems. As a first step the single tank is modelled by means of differential energy conservation equations. Secondly the tank geometrical design parameters and materials are taken accordingly with the applications taken into consideration. Both the steady state and dynamic models have been implemented in an existing techno-economic tool developed in KTH, in the CSP division (DYESOPT). The results show that under current cost estimates and technical limitations the multi-layered solid PCM storage concept is a better solution when peaking operating strategies are desired, as it is the case for the two-tier South African tariff scheme. In this case the IRR of an optimal designed power plant can be decreased by 2.1%. However, if a continuous operation is considered, the technology is not always preferred over the two tank solution, yet is a cheaper alternative with optimized power plants. As a result the obtained LCOE can be decreased by 2.4%.

Les performances électriques des cellules photovoltaïques à base de silicium sont fortement dégradées lorsque leur température augmente. Cette problématique, pourtant bien connue, n’est pas suffisamment prise en considération dans l’industrie du photovoltaïque. Pour parer à cette dégradation, deux voies d’améliorations peuvent être explorées : diminuer la température de fonctionnement des cellules ou réduire leurs coefficients de dégradation en température. Cette étude est d’autant plus importante pour les applications sous concentrations, un éclairement élevé favorisant l’échauffement des cellules. Pour les facteurs de concentration élevés, l’utilisation de systèmes de refroidissement actifs réduit drastiquement la température de fonctionnement. Pour les faibles éclairements, le refroidissement passif est préféré, bien moins coûteux en énergie. Ce travail de thèse est focalisé sur l’étude du comportement thermo-électrique des cellules sous faible concentration du rayonnement incident. Un banc de caractérisation innovant développé dans cette thèse a rendu possible la quantification des variations de la température de la cellule avec la tension de polarisation sous différents facteurs de concentration. Avec l’augmentation de la polarisation, une évolution du facteur d’émission thermique est observée du fait des variations de la concentration de porteurs de charge minoritaires. Le refroidissement radiatif est minimal au courant de court-circuit et est maximal à la tension de circuit ouvert : la température atteinte au point de court-circuit est supérieure à celle atteinte en circuit ouvert. Pour une cellule donnée, sous un éclairement de 3 soleils, un écart de température de 6.2 °C a pu être mesuré entre ces deux points. La fabrication de cellules avec des propriétés différentes nous a permis de confirmer l’importance du dopage de la base et de l’architecture sur l’augmentation du refroidissement radiatif avec la polarisation. De plus, la comparaison du comportement thermo-électrique des cellules de type de dopages différents a mis en avant de plus faibles coefficients de dégradation en température de la tension en circuit ouvert pour les cellules ayant un substrat de type n. Par exemple, pour une température de et sous un éclairement de 1 soleil, un coefficient de dégradation en température du Voc de −0.45% %·°C-1 a été mesuré sur une cellule de type n contre −0.49%·°C-1 pour une cellule de type p
The electrical performances of silicon based solar cells strongly degrade when increasing their temperature. However, such a well-known issue is too scarcely considered in the phovoltaic industry. To prevent the degradation of silicon based solar cells, two ways of improvement can be explored : one can either decrease the cells’ functionning temperature or either reduce the temperature degradation coefficient. As light intensity tends to favor cell heating, the study is even more important under concentrated sunlight. Regarding high light intensities, active cooling systems can be used to drastically reduce the cell temperature. For low light intensities, passive cooling systems, such as radiative cooling, are more energetically savy. The thesis aims at studying the electro-thermal behavior of cells under low light intensities. An innovative experimental set-up has been developped during this thesis to quantify the variation of the cell temperature with the applied bias voltage. When increasing the bias, an evolution of the cell emissivity is observed because of a variation of the minorities carrier concentration. The radiative cooling is at its lowest at the short circuit current and peaks its highest value at the open circuit voltage : as a result, the reached temperature is higher at the short circuit current than at the open circuit voltage. For a given solar cell, under 3 suns, a temperature shift of 6.2 °C was measured between these two points. The control of the fabrication process gives the opportunity to analyse the influence of the base doping and cell architecture on the evolution of the radiative cooling with the applied bias. Furthermore, the comparison between the electro-thermal behaviors of solar cells, which are related to their type of doping, has shown a lower thermal degradation coefficient of the open circuit voltage for n-type based dope solar cells. For example, at 60°C and under 1 sun, we measured a thermal degradation coefficient BVoc = −0.45% %·°C-1 for a n type solar cell whereas the p type solar cell recorded BVoc = −0.49% %·°C-1

Doutoramento em Engenharia Mecânica
The PhD project addresses the potential of using concentrating solar power (CSP) plants as a viable alternative energy producing system in Libya. Exergetic, energetic, economic and environmental analyses are carried out for a particular type of CSP plants. The study, although it aims a particular type of CSP plant – 50 MW parabolic trough-CSP plant, it is sufficiently general to be applied to other configurations. The novelty of the study, in addition to modeling and analyzing the selected configuration, lies in the use of a state-of-the-art exergetic analysis combined with the Life Cycle Assessment (LCA). The modeling and simulation of the plant is carried out in chapter three and they are conducted into two parts, namely: power cycle and solar field. The computer model developed for the analysis of the plant is based on algebraic equations describing the power cycle and the solar field. The model was solved using the Engineering Equation Solver (EES) software; and is designed to define the properties at each state point of the plant and then, sequentially, to determine energy, efficiency and irreversibility for each component. The developed model has the potential of using in the preliminary design of CSPs and, in particular, for the configuration of the solar field based on existing commercial plants. Moreover, it has the ability of analyzing the energetic, economic and environmental feasibility of using CSPs in different regions of the world, which is illustrated for the Libyan region in this study. The overall feasibility scenario is completed through an hourly analysis on an annual basis in chapter Four. This analysis allows the comparison of different systems and, eventually, a particular selection, and it includes both the economic and energetic components using the “greenius” software. The analysis also examined the impact of project financing and incentives on the cost of energy. The main technological finding of this analysis is higher performance and lower levelized cost of electricity (LCE) for Libya as compared to Southern Europe (Spain). Therefore, Libya has the potential of becoming attractive for the establishment of CSPs in its territory and, in this way, to facilitate the target of several European initiatives that aim to import electricity generated by renewable sources from North African and Middle East countries. The analysis is presented a brief review of the current cost of energy and the potential of reducing the cost from parabolic trough- CSP plant. Exergetic and environmental life cycle assessment analyses are conducted for the selected plant in chapter Five; the objectives are 1) to assess the environmental impact and cost, in terms of exergy of the life cycle of the plant; 2) to find out the points of weakness in terms of irreversibility of the process; and 3) to verify whether solar power plants can reduce environmental impact and the cost of electricity generation by comparing them with fossil fuel plants, in particular, Natural Gas Combined Cycle (NGCC) plant and oil thermal power plant. The analysis also targets a thermoeconomic analysis using the specific exergy costing (SPECO) method to evaluate the level of the cost caused by exergy destruction. The main technological findings are that the most important contribution impact lies with the solar field, which reports a value of 79%; and the materials with the vi highest impact are: steel (47%), molten salt (25%) and synthetic oil (21%). The “Human Health” damage category presents the highest impact (69%) followed by the “Resource” damage category (24%). In addition, the highest exergy demand is linked to the steel (47%); and there is a considerable exergetic demand related to the molten salt and synthetic oil with values of 25% and 19%, respectively. Finally, in the comparison with fossil fuel power plants (NGCC and Oil), the CSP plant presents the lowest environmental impact, while the worst environmental performance is reported to the oil power plant followed by NGCC plant. The solar field presents the largest value of cost rate, where the boiler is a component with the highest cost rate among the power cycle components. The thermal storage allows the CSP plants to overcome solar irradiation transients, to respond to electricity demand independent of weather conditions, and to extend electricity production beyond the availability of daylight. Numerical analysis of the thermal transient response of a thermocline storage tank is carried out for the charging phase. The system of equations describing the numerical model is solved by using time-implicit and space-backward finite differences and which encoded within the Matlab environment. The analysis presented the following findings: the predictions agree well with the experiments for the time evolution of the thermocline region, particularly for the regions away from the top-inlet. The deviations observed in the near-region of the inlet are most likely due to the high-level of turbulence in this region due to the localized level of mixing resulting; a simple analytical model to take into consideration this increased turbulence level was developed and it leads to some improvement of the predictions; this approach requires practically no additional computational effort and it relates the effective thermal diffusivity to the mean effective velocity of the fluid at each particular height of the system. Altogether the study indicates that the selected parabolic trough-CSP plant has the edge over alternative competing technologies for locations where DNI is high and where land usage is not an issue, such as the shoreline of Libya.
O projeto de Doutoramento aborda o potencial de usar centrais de energia solar concentrada (CSP) como um sistema de produção de energia alternativa disponível na Líbia. Uma análise nas vertentes exergética, energética, económica e ambiental foi realizada para um tipo particular destas centrais – um sistema de 50 MW com receção parabólica, porém ela é suficientemente geral para ser aplicada a outras configurações. A originalidade do estudo, para além da modelação e análise da configuração selecionada encontra-se na utilização do estado da arte em termos da análise exergética combinada com a avaliação do ciclo de vida (LCA). A modelação e simulação da central CSP selecionada são efetuadas no terceiro capítulo tendo em consideração as duas componentes: ciclo de potência e campo de coletores solar. O modelo computacional para a análise do sistema foi desenvolvido com base em equações algébricas que descrevem o sistema, e que são resolvidas usando o software EES. Deste modo, são definidas as propriedades em cada ponto de interesse para os diferentes elementos do sistema, o que assim permite determinar as energias, eficiências e irreversibilidades desses elementos. O modelo desenvolvido tem o potencial de se tornar uma ferramenta de grande utilidade para o projeto preliminar de engenharia de centrais CSP, e também para a avaliação da eventual reconfiguração de centrais elétricas solares comerciais em operação. Além disso, o modelo pode ser utilizado no estudo de viabilidade da operação de centrais CSP, através da análise energética, económica e ambiental, para regiões diferentes da que foi escolhida no presente estudo -Trípoli (Líbia). O cenário total da viabilidade da operação da central CSP é completado através da análise horária com base anual apresentada no quarto capítulo. Esta análise permite a comparação de diferentes sistemas e, eventualmente permite fazer a seleção com base nas componentes económicas e energéticas, que são determinadas dentro do contexto do software greenius. A análise também toma em conta o impacto de financiamento e incentivos dados aos projetos no custo da produção de energia. O principal resultado desta análise é a verificação que o desempenho é mais elevado, com o consequente menor custo nivelado da eletricidade, para a Líbia em comparação com o Sul da Europa (Espanha). Assim a Líbia tem o potencial de se tornar um candidato atrativo para o estabelecimento de centrais CSP com o objetivo, como foi considerado em várias iniciativas europeias, de exportar eletricidade gerada através de fontes de energia renováveis de países do Norte de África e Médio Oriente para a Europa. A análise apresenta uma breve revisão do custo corrente da eletricidade e o potencial para reduzir o custo da energia a partir da tecnologia de receção parabólica de centrais CSP. A avaliação do ciclo de vida com base exergética (ELCA) e a avaliação do ciclo de vida convencional são realizadas para a centrais CSP específicas no quinto capítulo. Os objetivos são 1) avaliar o impacto ambiental e custo, em termos de do ciclo iv de vida exergético do sistema; 2) identificar pontos fracos em termos da irreversibilidade dos processos; e 3) verificar se as centrais CSP podem reduzir o impacto ambiental e o custo de geração de eletricidade em comparação com centrais que consomem combustível fóssil. O capítulo ainda apresenta uma análise termoeconómica com base na metodologia do custo específico da exergia (SPECO), que avalia o custo relacionado com a destruição de exergia. A análise verificou que o impacto mais importante é a contribuição apresentada pelo campo solar (79%), e os materiais com maior impacto são: aço (47%), sal fundido (25%) e óleo sintético (21%). A análise ELCA mostra que a maior demanda de exergia é devida ao aço (47%); a análise existe uma considerável demanda de exergia relacionada com o sal fundido e ainda o óleo sintético. Em comparação com as centrais que consomem combustível fóssil (NGCC e óleo) a central sistema CSP apresenta menor impacto ambiental, enquanto o pior desempenho ambiental é o da central com queima de óleo seguida pela central a gás natural (NGCC). Na central CSP, o campo solar apresenta o custo mais elevado, enquanto o gerador de vapor, entre os componentes do ciclo de potência, apresenta o maior custo. O armazenamento de energia térmica permite que as centrais CSP superem a intermitência de radiação solar para responder à procura de energia elétrica independentemente das condições climáticas, e também possam estender a produção de eletricidade para além da disponibilidade da radiação solar diária. A análise numérica do transiente térmico de um sistema de armazenamento de gradiente térmico é realizada durante a fase de carregamento. O sistema de equações que descreve o modelo numérico é resolvido através da utilização de diferenças finitas implícitas no tempo usando o software Matlab. Os resultados da análise indicam que as previsões estão em boa concordância com os dados experimentais para a evolução no tempo da região de gradiente térmico, em particular para regiões mais afastadas da entrada. Nesta região os desvios observados são provavelmente causados pelo alto nível de turbulência devido à penetração do jato no seio do tanque de armazenamento. O modelo analítico simples para simular a turbulência que foi desenvolvido melhora os resultados. Esta abordagem não requer esforço computacional adicional e determina a difusidade térmica efetiva ao longo do tanque.

Mechanical Engineering
Ph.D.
A desirable feature of concentrated solar power (CSP) with integrated thermal energy storage (TES) unit is to provide electricity in a dispatchable manner during cloud transient and non-daylight hours. Latent heat thermal energy storage (LHTES) offers many advantages such as higher energy storage density, wider range of operating temperature and nearly isothermal heat transfer relative to sensible heat thermal energy storage (SHTES), which is the current standard for trough and tower CSP systems. Despite the advantages mentioned above, LHTES systems performance is often limited by low thermal conductivity of commonly used, low cost phase change materials (PCMs). Research and development of passive heat transfer devices, such as heat pipes (HPs) to enhance the heat transfer in the PCM has received considerable attention. Due to its high effective thermal conductivity, heat pipe can transport large amounts of heat with relatively small temperature difference. The objective of this research is to study the charging and discharging processes of heat pipe-assisted LHTES systems using computational fluid dynamics (CFD) and experimental testing to develop a method for more efficient energy storage system design. The results revealed that the heat pipe network configurations and the quantities of heat pipes integrated in a thermal energy storage system have a profound effect on the thermal response of the system. The optimal placement of heat pipes in the system can significantly enhance the thermal performance. It was also found that the inclusion of natural convection heat transfer in the CFD simulation of the system is necessary to have a realistic prediction of a latent heat thermal storage system performance. In addition, the effects of geometrical features and quantity of fins attached to the HPs have been studied.
Temple University--Theses

Parabolic trough power plants have been the most commercially implemented solar thermal electricity plants in the world. As such, several studies have been carried out over the last years in order to improve the efficiency/reduce the costs of this type of plants. From here it came the possibility of using the salts, that are currently used in this type of plants as storage fluid only, as heat transfer fluid (HTF). Its use as HTF seems to be a viable solution, however its implementation requires careful analysis. The project that gave rise to this dissertation aims to study this feasibility. During this work, the advantages and disadvantages of the salts in relation to the thermal oils (HTF currently used in this type of installations) will be presented and demonstrated, and SAM simulations will be performed to analyse the performance of a platform with the different fluids. Finally, the changes caused in the LCOE as well as in the power block design and efficiency will be determined; Resumo: VANTAGENS E DESVANTAGENS DOS SAIS FUNDIDOS DE BAIXO PONTO DE FUSÃO NUM SISTEMA DE FOCO LINEAR As centrais lineares de coletores cilíndrico-parabólicos são atualmente a tecnologia de geração solar termoelétrica mais utilizada em todo o mundo. Como tal, vários estudos têm vindo a ser realizados ao longo dos últimos anos com o intuito de melhorar a eficiência/reduzir os custos deste tipo de plantas. Daqui surgiu a possibilidade de utilizar os sais fundidos, já utilizados neste tipo de plantas apenas como fluido de armazenamento, também como fluido de transferência de calor (HTF). A sua utilização como HTF parece ser uma solução viável, no entanto a sua implementação requer uma análise cuidada. O projeto que deu origem a esta dissertação tem como objetivo estudar essa viabilidade. Ao longo deste trabalho serão apresentadas e demonstradas as vantagens e desvantagens dos sais em relação aos óleos térmicos (HTF utilizado atualmente neste tipo de instalações), realizadas simulações em SAM para analisar a performance de uma plataforma com os distintos fluidos e por fim determinadas as alterações provocadas no LCOE assim como no desempenho e eficiência do bloco de potência.

Le développement de nouveaux matériaux pour les absorbeurs sélectifs pour le solaire thermique à concentration est une étape importante dans le déploiement des énergies renouvelables. La température actuelle de fonctionnement de ces absorbeurs (autour de 450°C) doit être augmentée jusqu’à 650°C ou plus, pour rendre cette technologie rentable. Dans ce but, de nouveaux matériaux pour les absorbeurs solaires doivent être développés, pour résister à ces températures sur le long terme, sans dégradation de leurs propriétés d’absorption. Les matériaux composites en couches minces sont des alternatives prometteuses aux matériaux existants, particulièrement les multicouches platine-alumine qui présentent une grande résistance en température et à l’oxydation. Le sujet de cette thèse a pour but de développer un matériau présentant une bonne absorption de l’énergie solaire et d’étudier les mécanismes de vieillissement qui interviennent dans ce matériau à haute température (650°C) sous air. Pour cela, nous nous sommes donc intéressés aux composites de platine et d’alumine. L’utilisation de simulations numériques a permis de développer une structure dont les propriétés optiques ont été optimisées. Ces structures ont ensuite été réalisées par pulvérisation cathodique magnétron et leurs propriétés optiques mesurées pour vérifier la sélectivité des absorbeurs obtenus. Des valeurs d’absorption de α=0.95 et d’émissivité de ε=0.18 ont été obtenues. Par la suite, notre étude a porté sur les différents mécanismes qui interviennent lors du vieillissement, notamment l’impact du substrat, et les parades pouvant être mises en place pour ralentir ce vieillissement
Developing new absorber material for solar thermal power is a key step in the enhancement of renewable energies. The current working temperature of the absorber in power plant is too low (450°C) and must be raised to at least 650°C to enhance the yield of the plant. New absorber materials must be developed, to resist such high temperatures for many years, without losing their optical selectivity. Multilayer composite materials show promising results, especially platinum-alumina multilayer because of their good thermal stability. The aim of this PhD was to develop an absorber presenting a good solar absorption and to study the degradation mechanisms taking place during the aging at 650°C in air. Therefore, we studied the platinum-alumina multilayer. We used optical simulation to optimize the structure of our absorber. Then we realized these structures by magnetron sputtering and we performed optical characterizations to verify the optical selectivity. Values of absorption and emissivity of α=0.95 and ε=0.18 were obtained. At that point, we performed aging tests on our absorbers to study the degradation mechanisms taking place during aging at 650°C and to find ways to avoid those degradations in future applications

La responsabilité de notre activité dans les récentes et parfois brutales modifications climatiques est avérée. Maîtrise de la demande en énergie et énergies renouvelables apparaissent comme les deux solutions pour remédier à cette catastrophe. Dans ce travail, nous nous intéressons à la cogénération appliquée aux bâtiments résidentiels. Deux zones géographiques sont concernées, l'Afrique de l'Ouest et la France. Il n'existe pas de système de cogénération solaire de très faible puissance (< 10 kWe). La solution envisagée dans ce travail consiste à produire de la chaleur à environ 150 °C et un rendement supérieur à 50 %, de l'utiliser ensuite dans un ORC pour produire électricité et chaleur à basse température. Le système complet doit être résistant et à bas coût. Or pour atteindre ces performances, la concentration solaire est obligatoire. Une partie de ce travail consiste donc au développement d'un panneau à concentration solaire qui répond à ces deux contraintes thermiques, mais aussi au fait d'être robuste, fiable et facilement intégrable à l'enveloppe d'un bâtiment. Dans ce cadre, la technologie cylindro-parabolique a été retenue, adaptée et miniaturisée. En ce qui concerne la partie thermodynamique, le verrou technologique se trouve principalement dans le groupe turboalternateur. L'objet de la seconde partie de cette thèse consiste ainsi à la conception d'un organe de détente également robuste, nécessitant qu'une maintenance simplifiée et réalisable par les équipes de SIREA. La turbine Tesla, brevetée en 1913 par Nikola Tesla, devrait satisfaire à ce cahier des charges. Sa particularité est qu'à l'opposée des autres turbines, son rotor ne possède pas d'aubage, mais seulement des disques parallèles. Son fonctionnement est basé sur l'adhésion du fluide aux surfaces des disques
The responsibility of our activity in the recent and sometimes brutal climate changes is recognized. Energy demand management and renewable energies appear as two solutions to overcome this disaster. In this work, we focus on combined heat and power applied to residential buildings. Two geographical areas are concerned, West Africa and France. For the moment, no system of very low power (< 10 kWe) solar cogeneration exists. In this work, considered solution consists to produce heat at 150 °C and with an efficiency greater than 50 %, then to use it in an ORC for producing electricity and low temperature heat. The whole system has to be resistant and low-cost. But to reach those performances with solar radiation, concentration is necessary. The first part of this thesis is to elaborate a solar concentrating panel which answer to these two thermal constraints. The new solar panel must be robust, reliable and easily integrable on the building envelope. In this context, parabolic trough is adopted, adapted and miniaturised. Regarding the thermodynamic part, technological lock is found mainly in the turbogenerator. The purpose of the second part of this thesis consists of the design of a an expansion equipement, requiring simplified maintenance and achievable by the team of Sirea. The Tesla turbine, patented in 1913 by Nikola Tesla, should satisfy this specification. Its characteristic is that the opposite other conventional turbines, the rotor is not bladed or vaned, only parallel disks. Fluid exerts shear stress on the disk surfaces resulting in a torque at the shaft

In a proposed design for a concentrated solar power tower, sand is irradiated by solar energy and transfers its energy to another fluid stream by means of a finned tube heat exchanger. To maximize heat transfer and minimize potential damage to the heat exchanger, it is desired to have a very uniform flow through the heat exchanger. However, performing full scale flow tests can be expensive, impractical, and depending upon the specific quantities of interest, unsuitable for revealing the details of what it happening inside of the flow stream. Thus, the discrete element method has been used to simulate and study particulate flows. In this project, the flow of small glass beads through a square pyramid shaped hopper and a wedge shaped hopper were studied at the lab scale. These flows were also simulated using computers running two versions of discrete element modeling software – EDEM and LIGGGHTS. The simulated results were compared against the lab scale flows and against each other. They show that, in general, the discrete element method can be used to simulate lab scale particulate flows as long as certain material properties are well known, especially the friction properties of the material. The potential for increasing the accuracy of the simulations, such as using better material property data, non-uniform particle size distributions, and non-spherical particle shapes, as well as simulating heat transfer within a granular flow are also discussed.

Le procédé de purification par plasma, étudié dans ce travail, peut efficacementenlever le bore du silicium. En combinaison avec d’autres procédés on peut ainsipurifier du silicium pour des cellules solaires à bas coûts. Cependant, la chimie à lasurface du silicium est encore mal comprise. Pour une meilleure compréhension duprocédé nous effectuons des mesures paramétriques de vitesse de purification, nouscalculons l’équilibre chimique et nous mesurons la température et la concentrationdes radicaux dans le plasma, utilisant la spectroscopie d’émission.La comparaison entre des vitesses de purification de la littérature et desconcentrations à l’équilibre chimique calculé montre que les réactions chimiques à lasurface du silicium sont probablement en équilibre. Cependant, le rapport entre lebore et le silicium dans les gaz en sortie du réacteur est plus élevé que prédit par lescalculs de l’équilibre chimique. Ceci est probablement dû à la formation d’un aérosolde silice dans la couche limite réactive. Les résultats des mesures paramétriques dela vitesse de purification sont en accord avec cette théorie.Plusieurs expériences de validation montrent que la spectroscopie d’émission peutêtre utilisé pour mesurer la température et les rapports de concentration O/Ar et H/Ardans le plasma. Les résultats des mesures spectroscopiques ont aidé à améliorer defaçon significative un modèle numérique. Les résultats ont montré que l’hydrogènediffuse fortement dans le plasma tandis que l’oxygène diffuse beaucoup mo
The plasma refining process studied in this work can efficiently remove boron fromsilicon. In combination with other processes one can purify silicon for solar cells atlow costs. The hot gases from the thermal plasma torch are blown onto the surface ofa silicon melt. However the chemistry at the silicon surface is so far poorlyunderstood. For a better understanding of the process we do parametricmeasurements of the boron removal rate, we calculate the chemical equilibriumconcentrations and we measure the temperature and radical concentrations in theplasma, using emission spectroscopy.The comparison of boron removal rates from literature to calculated chemicalequilibrium concentrations shows that the chemical reactions at the silicon surfaceare probably at chemical equilibrium. However, the boron to silicon ratio in theexhaust gases is higher than predicted by the chemical equilibrium calculations. Thisis probably due to the formation of a silica aerosol in the reactive boundary layer. Theresults of the parametric measurements of the boron removal rate agree also withthis theory.Several validation experiments showed that emission spectroscopy with Abelinversion can be used to measure the temperature and the concentration ratios O/Arand H/Ar in the plasma. The spectroscopic results helped to improve significantly anumerical mode. The results also showed that hydrogen diffuses strongly in theplasma while oxygen diffuses much less

Le concentrateur à réflecteur linéaire de Fresnel (LFR) est une technologie solaire thermodynamique en plein essor : petites applications industrielles (chaleur, froid, électricité) à centrales électriques (10-100 MWel). Ce travail de thèse établit un modèle global du procédé solaire, en régime permanent, pour un prédimensionnement du système. Le modèle comprend trois parties chaînées : (i) les transferts radiatifs dans le concentrateur optique, modélisés précisément par une méthode de Monte Carlo (environnement EDStar) ; (ii) les transferts thermiques dans le récepteur, évalués analytiquement (puissances, températures) ; (iii) le cycle thermodynamique, avec Thermoptim. L’application étudiée couple un concentrateur LFR à un moteur Ericsson. L’air est fluide caloporteur et de travail. Un prototype est en construction. L’hybridation et le stockage thermique sont des options clés. Un modèle systémique permettrait d’optimiser l’opération du procédé, en étudiant son comportement dynamique
Linear Fresnel Reflector (LFR) is a promising Concentrating Solar Power technology. Research is booming and industrial applications are emerging. Applications range from small production units (heat, cold, electricity) to utility scale power plants (several tenths of MW). This PhD work establishes a global model of the solar process, in order to improve our knowledge of the system’s performances. It is a static model suited for a pre-design of the system. The model is chaining three parts. Radiative heat transfer in the optical concentrator is modelled by Monte Carlo statistical Method. The algorithm enables a detailed study of any geometrical configuration, especially through absorbed power flux maps on the receiver. The simulation tool is using the environment of development EDStar. The thermal model calculates analytically the useful thermal power, losses and temperature profiles along the receiver (glass cover, fluid, pipe...). The thermodynamic cycle is simulated analytically using the software Thermoptim. The studied application uses air as heat transfer and working fluid. Air directly feeds an Ericsson engine. The engine developed by LaTEP laboratory is promising for small scale cogeneration (1 to several tenths of kWel). The prototype Linear Fresnel Reflector built in Ecole des Mines d’Albi will enable experimental study of a solar process coupling an LFR concentrator and an Ericsson engine. The technology under study can feed a power plant or a cogeneration system in the industry, producing electricity and heat at 100 to 250°C. Hybridisation with an other energy source (biomass, gas...) and thermal storage (molten salt?) are key features to investigate. To optimise the operating strategy of the process, dynamic behaviour must be studied: a systemic or agent based model is a very relevant approach

Concentrated Solar Thermal technology (CST) is a very promising renewable energy technology and has a broad range of use. Conventionally, CST systems are mostly used for power generation according to the Rankine cycle and thus often referred to as Concentrated Solar Power (CSP). In this present study, the solar heat is utilized to drive a thermochemical redox cycle of a metal-oxide in order to produce synthetic gas, a combination of hydrogen and carbon monoxide. Later, the synthetic gas is converted into usable liquid fuel whereas the production pathway is CO2 free. This thesis focuses on the process modeling and economic evaluation of solar-driven future fuels production plants. Four future fuels have been selected and modeled using commercial simulation software Aspen Plus®. These 4 future fuels are syngasoline, syndiesel, ethanol and methanol where they can be seen as a very good substitute for current transportation fuels. The heat required at high temperature is delivered using concentrated solar thermal technology with tower configuration for which the heliostat field is designed using in-house software HFLCAL developed by DLR. Syngas is converted into aforementioned fuels using either Fischer-Tropsch or plug-flow reactor. The reactor is modeled taking into account the kinetic of reaction for each fuel, while in case of the absence of kinetic, a stoichiometric approach is implemented. To analyze the hourly plant’s performance, a quasi-steady state analysis is done within MATLAB® environment. The metric used to evaluate the plants are production cost in €/L and overall thermal efficiency. The results show that aforementioned conversion pathway yields higher production costs compared to current market while the lowest production cost is obtained for Methanol at 1.42 €/L. It is shown that solid to solid heat exchanger (STS) efficiency plays a major role in order to make the plant more economically viable. Combining electricity supply of Photovoltaic (PV) and CSP is also shown to be one way to reduce the production cost. If the plant combines PV-CSP is used as the electricity source, syngasoline emerges to be the closest proposed plant to current market fuel production cost with a production cost of 5.99 €/L at the base case scenario which corresponds to 622% relative difference with current market’s production cost and 2.87 €/L at the best case scenario which corresponds to 245% relative difference with current market’s production cost. At the base case scenario, the highest overall thermal efficiency is obtained for the syngasoline plant (4.05%) and at the best case scenario for the ethanol plant (9.2%).

Parmi les technologies de solaire thermodynamique, la technologie du linéaire de Fresnel semble la plus adaptée aux régions d’Afrique Sub saharienne. Cela en raison de la simplicité de la technologie. C’est dans cette optique qu’un collecteur de type linéaire de Fresnel d’une superficie de 7,5 m² de miroirs a été construit au laboratoire énergies renouvelables et efficacité énergétique (LabEREE). La construction du collecteur s’est faite en utilisant en priorité les matériaux disponibles localement afinde rendre la technologie plus accessible aux populations locales et de réduire les coûts de fabrication. Des tests sont effectués sur le collecteur afin de déterminer ses rendements optiques, thermiques et globaux. Dans un premier temps, une revue bibliographie des différents collecteurs de type linéaire de Fresnel nous a permis d’identifier les variantes, de cette technologie, les plus adaptées au contexte dela région . Un modèle thermique et un modèle optique ont été mis en place comme outils de dimensionnement et d’optimisation du collecteur. Les résultats expérimentaux obtenus ont été utilisés pour valider les différents modèles mis en place. Le rendement global du collecteur obtenu expérimentalement est de 21% et il a un facteur de concentration local de 6
Among the different technologies of concentrated solar power plant, the linear Fresnel, thanks to its simplicity, appears the most adapted to rural area of Sub Sahara region. A linear Fresnel collector of 7.5 m² has been built in “laboratoire énergies renouvelables et efficacité énergétique (LabEREE)”. The collector have been designed using material available locally by local man power. This reduces the total cost of the technology and makes it affordable for local population. The collector has been characterized in order to find optical, thermal and global efficiencies. In first time, a review on different linear Fresnel collector allows finding the technology that is most adapted to the Sub-Saharan region. An optical and thermal model of the collector has been done as a tool for designing and optimisation. The experimental results enable to validate the different models done. The collector has an effective concentration factor of 6 and a global efficiency of 21%

Renewable energy for energy production, like Solar, is turning out to be very pertinent in today's world [1]. It is very clear that Solar Energy is going to emerge as one of the key sources of energy in future. Moreover, the storage option is going to play an essential role to the future deployment of solar power plants. Concentrated solar power plants with thermal storage, photovoltaic plants integrated with battery energy storage, and hybrid plants are attractive solutions to obtain a stable and dispatchable energy production. Investors or policymakers usually find it challenging to come up with the most feasible solar storage technology because they need to consider techno-economic feasibility, and at the same time, from a market or administrative perspective as well. So, this thesis study will address the key problem which is aimed at investors or policymakers since there is a need to choose the best solar storage technology at a utility level in future based on so many attributes. The thesis project was carried out in two phases which includes forecast modelling & estimations and techno-economic assessment of virtual plants. These two phases helped to address various questions in relation to the problem statement of this study. The entire thesis study broadly covered seven countries spanning across four major regions around the world. The first phase of the thesis, forecast modelling estimations shows how the seven countries will look in future (2020 – 2050) with respect to installed capacity and costs for PV, CSP, and BESS technologies. Some major results from phase 1 include, in low-cost estimates, China will remain to be the market leader in PV & CSP by 2050. In U.S.A and India, the installed costs of PV are projected to decline by 70% by 2050. By 2050, the installed costs of Solar Tower technology are estimated to drop by about 65% in China and Spain. In U.S.A, the prices of BESS technology are likely to fall by around 58 – 60 % by 2050. In the second phase of thesis study, a techno-economic evaluation of virtual plants addressed the aspects which are to be considered for a solar project if it is deployed in future across seven specific countries. Results from this analysis helps investors or policymakers to choose the cheapest solar storage technology at a utility level across seven specific countries in future (2020 – 2050). Key results from this analysis show that, in the U.S.A, by 2050, PV+BESS will be the cheapest storage technology for 4 – 10 storage hours. Addition of another renewable technology will add up more viability to the comparison. In China, Hybrid will be the cheapest storage technology for 4 – 8 hrs by 2050. There is huge potential for deployment of CSP & hybrid plants in future than PV. In South Africa, CSP will be the cheapest storage technology by 2050 for 4 – 10 hours of storage. It is assumed that deployment of BESS projects at utility level starts from 2025 in South Africa. Beyond this, market forces analysis was carried out which offers insights especially for the policymakers of how various drivers and constraints are influencing each solar technology across the specific countries in future. Overall, the entire thesis study provides guidelines/insights to investors or policy makers for choosing the best solar storage technology in future at a utility scale for a particular country.
Förnybar energi för energiproduktion, liksom Solar, visar sig vara mycket relevant i dagens värld [1]. Det är mycket tydligt att solenergi kommer att framstå som en av de viktigaste energikällorna i framtiden. Dessutom kommer lagringsalternativet att spela en väsentlig roll för den framtida distributionen av solkraftverk. Koncentrerade solkraftverk med värmelagring, solcellsanläggningar integrerade med batterilagring och hybridanläggningar är attraktiva lösningar för att få en stabil och skickbar energiproduktion. Investerare eller beslutsfattare brukar tycka att det är utmanande att komma på den mest genomförbara solcellstekniken eftersom de måste överväga teknikekonomisk genomförbarhet, och samtidigt, ur ett marknads- eller administrativt perspektiv också. Så denna avhandlingsstudie kommer att ta itu med nyckelproblemet som riktar sig till investerare eller beslutsfattare eftersom det finns ett behov av att välja den bästa solenergilagringstekniken på en användningsnivå i framtiden baserat på så många attribut. Avhandlingsprojektet genomfördes i två faser som inkluderar prognosmodellering och uppskattningar och teknikekonomisk bedömning av virtuella anläggningar. Dessa två faser hjälpte till att ta itu med olika frågor i samband med problemstudien i denna studie. Hela avhandlingsstudien omfattade i stort sju länder som sträcker sig över fyra stora regioner runt om i världen. Den första fasen i avhandlingen, prognosmodelleringsuppskattningar visar hur de sju länderna kommer att se ut i framtiden (2020 - 2050) med avseende på installerad kapacitet och kostnader för PV-, CSP- och BESS -teknik. Några viktiga resultat från fas 1 inkluderar, i lågkostnadsuppskattningar, att Kina kommer att vara marknadsledande inom PV och CSP år 2050. I USA och Indien beräknas de installerade kostnaderna för PV minska med 70% år 2050. Av 2050 beräknas de installerade kostnaderna för Solar Tower -teknik sjunka med cirka 65% i Kina och Spanien. I USA kommer priserna på BESS -teknik sannolikt att sjunka med cirka 58 - 60 % år 2050. I den andra fasen av avhandlingsstudien behandlade en teknikekonomisk utvärdering av virtuella anläggningar de aspekter som ska övervägas för ett solprojekt om det används i framtiden i sju specifika länder. Resultaten från denna analys hjälper investerare eller beslutsfattare att välja den billigaste solenergilagringstekniken på en användningsnivå i sju specifika länder i framtiden (2020 - 2050). Viktiga resultat från denna analys visar att i USA, år 2050, kommer PV+BESS att vara den billigaste lagringstekniken på 4 - 10 lagringstimmar. Tillägg av en annan förnybar teknik kommer att öka jämförbarheten. I Kina kommer Hybrid att vara den billigaste lagringstekniken i 4-8 timmar fram till 2050. Det finns en enorm potential för distribution av CSP & hybridanläggningar i framtiden än PV. I Sydafrika kommer CSP att vara den billigaste lagringstekniken år 2050 för 4 - 10 timmars lagring. Det antas att distributionen av BESS -projekt på verktygsnivå börjar från 2025 i Sydafrika. Utöver detta genomfördes marknadskravsanalys som ger insikter speciellt för beslutsfattarna om hur olika drivkrafter och begränsningar påverkar varje solteknik i de specifika länderna i framtiden. Sammantaget ger hela avhandlingsstudien riktlinjer/insikter till investerare eller beslutsfattare för att välja den bästa solenergitekniken i framtiden i en nyttoskala för ett visst land.

This thesis presents investigations on air-cooled air gap membrane distillation for desalination and the application of radial waveguides based on total internal reflection for solar thermal desalination. Using an air-cooled design for an air gap membrane distillation (AGMD) process may result in significantly lower energy requirements for desalination. Experiments were conducted on AGMD module to study the effect of air gap, support mesh conductivity and hydrophobicity, condensing surface hydrophobicity. A novel modular design was used in which modules could be used in a series configuration to increase the flux value for the distillate. The output from the series configuration was found to have about three times the production from a single pass water-cooled system with the same temperature difference between the saline and clear water streams. The results also indicated that the mesh conductivity had a favorable effect on the flux value whereas the hydrophobicity of the mesh had no significant effect. The hydrophobicity of the condensing surface was favorable on two accounts: first, it led to an increase in the flux of the distillate at temperatures below 60 °C and second, the temperature difference of the saline feed when it enters and leaves the module is lower which can lead to energy savings and higher yields when used in a series configuration. The second part of the thesis considers use of low-cost radial waveguides to collect and concentrate solar energy for use in thermal desalination processes. The optical-waveguide-based solar energy concentrators are based on total internal reflection and minimize/eliminate moving parts, tracking structures and cost. The use of optical waveguides for thermal desalination is explored using an analytical closed-form solution for the coupled optical and thermal transport of solar irradiation through a radial planar waveguide concentrator integrated with a central receiver. The analytical model is verified against and supported by computational optical ray tracing simulations. The effects of various design and operating parameters are systematically investigated on the system performance, which is quantified in terms of net thermal power delivered, aperture area required and collection efficiency. Design constraints like thermal stress, maximum continuous operation temperature and structural constraints have been considered to identify realistic waveguide configurations which are suitable for real world applications. The study provides realistic estimates for the performance achievable with radial planar waveguide concentrator-receiver configuration. In addition to this, a cost analysis has been conducted to determine the preferred design configurations that minimize the cost per unit area of the planar waveguide concentrator coupled to the receiver. Considering applications to thermal desalination which is a low temperature application, optimal design configuration of waveguide concentrator-receiver system is identified that result in the minimum levelized cost of power (LCOP).
Master of Science

This study aimed at evaluating and demonstrating the feasibility of using Concentrated Solar Thermal technology combined with biomass energy technology as a hybrid renewable energy system to supply the process heat requirements in small scale industries in Sri Lanka. Particularly, the focus was to apply the concept to the expanding hotel industry, for covering the thermal energy demand of a medium scale hotel. Solar modules utilize the rooftop area of the building to a valuable application. Linear Fresnel type of solar concentrator is selected considering the requirement of the application and the simplicity of fabrication and installation compared to other technologies. Subsequently, a wood-fired boiler is deployed as the steam generator as well as the balancing power source to recover the effects due to the seasonal variations in solar energy. Bioenergy, so far being the largest primary energy supply in the country, has a good potential for further growth in industrial applications like small hotels.  When a hotel with about 200-guests capacity and annual average occupancy of 65% is considered, the total annual CO2 saving is accounted as 207 tons compared with an entirely fossil fuel (diesel) fired boiler system. The annual operational cost saving is around $ 40,000 and the simple payback period is within 3-4 years. The proposed hybrid system can generate additional 26 employment opportunities in the proximity of the site location area.   This solar-biomass hybrid concept mitigates the weaknesses associated with these renewable technologies when employed separately. The system has been designed in such a way that the total heat demand of hot water and process steam supply is managed by renewable energy alone. It is thus a self-sustainable, non-conventional, renewable energy system. This concept can be stretched to other critical medium temperature applications like for example absorption refrigeration. The system is applicable to many other industries in the country where space requirement is available, solar irradiance is rich and a solid biomass supply is assured.

La conversion photovoltaïque (PV) de l’énergie solaire repose sur la capacité qu’ont certains matériaux à convertir l’énergie des photons en courant électrique. Le développement des systèmes de conversion PV ces trente dernières années a permis des améliorations considérables en terme de coût et de performances dans le domaine des énergies renouvelables.Une cellule multi-jonctions (MJ), à base de matériaux semi-conducteurs III-V, est un empilement de sous-cellules aux gaps décroissants qui permet notamment une plus large utilisation du spectre solaire. Soumettre ces cellules PV à un flux solaire concentré permet d’augmenter significativement la puissance électrique créée par celles-ci, et ainsi d’abaisser substantiellement le coût de l’électricité produite.Le record du monde est actuellement détenu par le partenariat Soitec / Fraunhofer ISE avec un rendement de 46,0 % mesuré sur une cellule quadruple-jonctions en GaInP/GaAs//InGaAsP/InGaAs pour un taux de concentration de 508 X (où 1 X =1 soleil = 1 kW/m²).L’objectif du travail réalisé dans le cadre de cette thèse est de proposer une alternative aux cellules existantes plus simple à mettre en œuvre avec des cellules MJ monolithiques accordées sur substrat de GaSb pour des concentrations solaire de 1 000, soit une irradiance directe de 1 MW/m². Ce type de cellules, du fait de la très bonne complémentarité des gaps des matériaux et ses alignements de bandes favorables, constitue une alternative crédible et originale aux cellules existantes pour une utilisation sous flux solaire fortement concentré.Afin de mieux comprendre la cellule multijonctions III-Sb optimale, les travaux réalisés ont porté sur la fabrication et la caractérisation des trois sous-cellules fabriquées indépendamment. Ces trois échantillons épitaxiés sont l’Al0,9Ga0,1As0,07Sb0,93 (cellule Top), l’Al0,35Ga0,65As0,03Sb0,97 (cellule Middle) et le GaSb (cellule Bottom) ayant comme gaps respectifs 1,6 eV, 1,22 eV et 0,726 eV à 300 K.Le travail présenté dans cette thèse porte sur :- La réalisation et la mise au point de toutes les étapes technologiques nécessaires à la fabrication des cellules (dépôts métalliques, gravure humide et sèche par plasma …).- La caractérisation des métallisations par structure TLM (Transmission Line Method) dont le meilleur résultat obtenu concerne une métallisation tri-couche Cr/Pd/Au (30/30/30 nm) sur substrat GaSb type P.- La caractérisation sous obscurité courant-tension des paramètres électriques des cellules PV à température ambiante et en fonction de la température.- La caractérisation thermique par mesure de la conductivité thermique des matériaux et une cartographie de température de surface en fonction du flux solaire concentré en conditions réelles.- La caractérisation électro-optique par réponse spectrale, à partir de laquelle nous avons calculé le rendement quantique externe qui représente le rapport entre la quantité d’électrons créés et la quantité de photons incidente.- La caractérisation sous illumination à 1 soleil (1 000 W/m²) sous simulateur solaire et en conditions solaire dont nous avons comparé les paramètres électriques.- La caractérisation des cellules sous flux solaire (fortement) concentré au laboratoire PROMES. Les meilleurs rendements obtenus pour les cellules PV Bottom, Middle et Top respectifs de 4,6 % à 40 X (proche de l’état de l’art), 8,2 % à 96 X et 5,4 % à 185 X (première mondiale pour ces matériaux quaternaires).Ce travail a été cofinancé par le Ministère de l’Education et de la Recherche (Allocation ED) et le Labex SOLSTICE.Photovoltaic (PV) solar energy consists on the ability of certain materials to convert the photon energy into electric current. The development of PV conversion systems in the past thirty years has led to considerable improvements in terms of cost and performance in the field of renewable energies
Photovoltaic (PV) solar energy consists on the ability of certain materials to convert the photon energy into electric current. The development of PV conversion systems in the past thirty years has led to considerable improvements in terms of cost and performance in the field of renewable energies.A multi-junction (MJ) cell, based on III-V semiconductor materials, is a stack of sub-cells with decreasing gaps which notably allows wider use of the solar spectrum. Exposing these PV cells to a concentrated solar flux can significantly increase the electrical power generated, and therefore substantially lower the cost of electricity yielded.The world record is currently held by the partnership Soitec / Fraunhofer ISE with an efficiency of 46.0 % measured on a four-junction cell GaInP/GaAs//InGaAsP/InGaAs for a concentration ratio of 508 X (where 1 X = 1 sun = 1 kW/m²).The objective of the work in this thesis is to propose an alternative to existing cells, easier to implement with monolithic MJ cells grown on a GaSb substrate for solar concentrations of 1 000, which corresponds to a direct irradiance of 1 MW/m². This type of cell, due to the good complementary of the material gaps and its favorable band alignments, is a realistic and original alternative to existing cells for use under highly concentrated solar flux.To better understand the optimal multijunction III-Sb cell, the work carried out consisted on the manufacturing and characterization of the three sub-cells independently.These three epitaxial samples are Al0,9Ga0,1As0,07Sb0,93 (Top cell), the Al0,35Ga0,65As0,03Sb0,97 (Middle cell) and GaSb (Bottom cell) having as respective gaps 1.6 eV, 1.22 eV and 0.726 eV at 300 K.The work presented in this thesis is:- The establishment of all the technological steps required to manufacture the cells (metal deposition, wet and dry plasma etching ...).- The characterization of metallization by TLM structure (Transmission Line Method) with the best result being a three-layer metallization Cr/Pd/Au (30/30/30 nm) on a GaSb P-type substrate.- The characterization under dark of current-voltage electrical parameters of PV cells at room temperature and in function of the temperature.- The thermal characterization by measuring the thermal conductivity of the materials and a surface temperature mapping in function of the concentrated solar flux in realistic conditions.- The electro-optical characterization by spectral response, from which we calculated the external quantum efficiency which is the ratio between the amount of electrons created and the amount of incident photons.- The characterization under 1 sun illumination (1 000 W/m²) in a solar simulator and in realistic conditions of which we compared the electrical parameters.- The characterization of solar cells under (highly) concentrated solar flux in the PROMES laboratory.The best efficiencies for Bottom, Middle and Top PV cells respectively are 4.6 % for 40 X (close to the state of the art), 8.2 % for 96 X and 5.4 % for 185 X (world first for these quaternary materials).This work was cofounded by the Ministry of Education and Research (ED Research grant) and Labex SOLSTICE

Convaincu de l’intérêt et du potentiel des matériaux naturels et des déchets industriels, cette thèse a contribué à la mise au point de matériaux de stockage de la chaleur (TESM) pour les CSP en Afrique de l’Ouest. Plus spécifiquement, ce travail de recherche a porté sur la valorisation de la latérite du Burkina Faso, des cendres de foyer des centrales à charbon de la société SONICHAR au Niger, des résidus en carbonate de calcium (chaux) de l’industrie de production de l’acétylène au Burkina Faso et l’huile végétale de Jatropha curcas de la société Belwet au Burkina Faso. Les résultats de cette étude ont permis de montrer que l’huile de Jatropha curcas peut être considérée comme une alternative viable aux fluides de transfert et aux TESM conventionnels pour les CSP fonctionnant à 210 °C. Les matériaux élaborés à partir des cendres de foyer et de la latérite présentent un caractère réfractaire en raison de la présence de mullite et de spinelle. L’ajout de chaux permet de réduire le point de fusion tout en préservant le caractère réfractaire et conducteur des phases obtenues. En raison de leurs stabilités, et l’absence de conflit d'utilisation, les matériaux obtenus peuvent être utilisés comme TESM dans CSP à des températures allant jusqu’à 900 °C
Convinced of the interest and potential of natural materials and industrial waste, this thesis has contributed to the development of heat storage materials (TESM) for CSPs in West Africa. More specifically, this research focused on the valorization of laterite from Burkina Faso, the bottom ashes from the coal-fired power plants of SONICHAR in Niger, residues of calcium carbonate (lime) from the acetylene in Burkina Faso and the vegetable oil of Jatropha curcas from the company Belwet in Burkina Faso. The results of this study showed that Jatropha curcas oil can be considered as a viable alternative to conventional HTF and TESM for CSP operating at 210 °C. The materials elaborated from bottom ashes and laterites present a refractory character due to the presence of mullite and spinel. The addition of lime makes it possible to reduce the melting temperature while preserving the refractory and conductive character of the obtained phases. Due to their stabilities, and the absence of conflict of use, the obtained materials can be used as TESM in CSP at temperatures up to 900 °C