Читать книгу Step-by-Step Design of Large-Scale Photovoltaic Power Plants - Houshang Karimi - Страница 16

In a solar thermal power plant, the solar energy is converted into thermal energy which is then converted into electrical energy. Figure 1.3 shows various types of solar thermal power plants as explained below [3].

1 Parabolic PlantThe parabolic plant has a linear parabolic collector consisting of few rows of parabolic reflectors. The reflectors absorb the reflected rays of solar radiation and warm up the heat transfer fluid.

2 Central Receiver PlantThe central receiver plant consists of a set of mirrors, where each separately concentrates solar energy and transmits it to a central receiver tower.

3 Parabolic Dish PlantIn a parabolic dish plant, the sun's rays reflected on a parabolic surface are concentrated at a focal point. The thermal energy is converted into mechanical energy by a Stirling engine. An electric generator converts the mechanical energy into the electrical energy.

4 Solar Chimney PlantIn a solar chimney plant, a combination of solar air collectors and air conduction towers are used to produce induced air currents. The currents provide mechanical forces in order to rotate a pressure step turbine coupled to a generator to produce electricity.Figure 1.2 Various solar power plant categories.Source: Dincer and Abu‐Rayash [2].Figure 1.3 Various applications of solar thermal energy: (a) Parabolic plant, (b) Central receiver plant, (c) Parabolic dish plant, (d) Solar chimney plant, and (e) Fresnel collector plant.Source: Modified from González‐Roubaud et al. [3].

5 Fresnel Collector PlantThe Fresnel collector plant includes flat mirror collectors with low width and long length that collect the incoming sunlight on the concentrator and send it to a receiver tube. The receiver tube heats up the fluid inside the tube.