High-Temperature Systems with Storage for Solar Tower Plants

Abstract

The transient behavior of the solar resource and the electricity demand load curve usually are not congruent. Electricity supply has to be ensured during cloudy transients and night. To reduce fossil backup firing, thermal storages are required. This study examines thermal storage options for high-temperature solar tower plants. The whole chain from solar insulation to electricity has to be taken in account for system evaluation. The main components are the solar receiver, the thermal storage system, and the power block. Between these components, there are heat and mass transfer processes. First, this study gives a generalized overview of the system components (solar receiver, storage, power cycles; see section 2). The various combinations of different types of solar receivers, thermal storages, and power cycles are presented in section 3. These combinations are assessed from a hermodynamic and economic view (section 4.1) and from a technological point of view (section 4.2).