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376 CHAPTER 12 Concentrating Solar Power

Table 12.1 Comparison Between Different Concentrating Solar Power (CSP)
Technologies
Storage
CSP Integration
Technology Possibility Advantages Disadvantages
PTC Possible • Relatively low installation • Relatively large area
cost occupied
• Large experimental • Low thermodynamic
feedback efficiency due to low
operating temperature
LFR Possible • Relatively low installation • Low thermodynamic
cost efficiency due to low
operating temperature
SPT Highly • High thermodynamic • Large space area
possible with efficiency due to high occupied
low storage operating temperature • Relatively high
cost. installation cost
• High heat losses
PD Difficult • Relatively small area • Relatively high
occupied installation cost
• High thermodynamic • Little experimental
efficiency due to high feedback
operating temperature
LFR, linear Fresnel reflector; PD, parabolic dish; PTC, parabolic trough collector; SPT, solar power
tower.
Modified from U. Pelay, L. Luo, Y. Fan, D. Stitou, M. Rood, Thermal energy storage systems for
concentrated solar power plants, Renew Sustainable Energy Rev. 79 (2017) 82e100.

and thermal radiation) whenever the collector output temperature rises. This occurs
because the collector is influenced by the local environmental conditions. Efficiency
increases along with the temperature of the hot reservoir, but high temperatures could
decrease the efficiency of solar collectors; a trade-off analysis must be carried out to
determine the optimum operation point for the power plant.
Fig. 12.3 shows the combined heat engine efficiency and absorber efficiency for
different CSP technologies. Fig. 12.3 shows that the concentration ratio always in-
creases the global plant efficiency, and that there is a trade-off relationship between
the two efficiencies (heat engine þ absorber), leading to optimum operation
temperatures.
Although there are various technical options available for CSP technology, some
of them did not reach development level of industrial maturity. Some of them are
2
only concepts being developed in laboratories, R&D, or demonstration. Recently,
some authors conducted a survey on websites, identifying the current situation
and future trends in CSP plants, the type, the use, duration, and type of energy

2
EASAC, Concentrating Solar Power: Its Potential Contribution to a Sustainable Energy Future, 2011.