Page 400 - Advances in Renewable Energies and Power Technologies

CHAPTER

12
Concentrating Solar Power

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2
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1
Jose ´ J.C.S. Santos , Jose ´ C.E. Palacio , Arnaldo M.M. Reyes , Monica Carvalho ,
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Alberto J.R. Freire , Marcelo A. Barone 1
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Department of Mechanical Engineering, Federal University of Espı ´ rito Santo, Vito ´ria, Brazil ;
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Department of Mechanical Engineering, Federal University of Itajuba ´, Itajuba ´, Brazil ;
Department of Renewable Energy Engineering, Federal University of Paraı ´ ba, Joa ˜o Pessoa,
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Brazil ; Department of Control Engineering and System Analysis, Universite ´ Libre de Bruxelles,
Brussels, Belgium 4
CHAPTER OUTLINE
1. Introduction ....................................................................................................... 373
2. Solar Energy Resources: Sun Characteristics and Solar Radiation......................... 377
3. Concentrating Solar Power Plants ....................................................................... 381
4. Solar Thermal Energy Storage............................................................................. 391
5. Thermodynamic and Economic Study................................................................... 395
References ............................................................................................................. 401

1. INTRODUCTION
Concentrating solar power (CSP) is the power generated in solar power systems that
use solar concentrators to convert solar energy into heat and then the produced heat
is converted into power. CSP systems use very different technology than photovol-
taic (PV) systems. They use the sun as heat energy source instead of the photon en-
ergy of the sun used by PV systems. CSP plants use mirrors or lenses to concentrate a
large area of sunlight, or solar thermal energy, onto a small area. Electricity is gener-
ated when the concentrated light drives a heat engine, usually a steam turbine cycle,
connected to an electrical power generator. The thermal energy concentrated can be
stored and used to produce electricity when it is needed. Most power plants use solar
concentrator together with some form of fossil fuel burners to increase the amount of
thermal heat source.
The four main types of solar concentrator systems are parabolic trough, power
tower, linear Fresnel, and dish. All of them use thermal energy from the sun to
generate mechanical energy in a heat engine to drive electrical generator do produce
electricity. The dish concentrates thermal energy, generally used in Stirling engine
systems. The parabolic trough, linear Fresnel, and power tower are technologies
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Advances in Renewable Energies and Power Technologies. https://doi.org/10.1016/B978-0-12-812959-3.00012-5
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