Experimentally validated long-term energy production prediction model for solar dish/Stirling electric generating systems
- California State Polytechnic Univ., Pomona, CA (United States)
Dish/Stirling solar electric systems are currently being tested for performance and longevity in order to bring them to the electric power generation market. Studies both in Germany and the United States indicate that a significant market exists for these systems if they perform in actual installations according to tested conditions, and if, when produced in large numbers their cost will drop to goals currently being projected. In the 1980`s, considerable experience was gained operating eight dish/Stirling systems of three different designs. One of these recorded the world`s record for converting solar energy into electricity of 29.4%. The approach to system performance prediction taken in this presentation results from lessons learned in testing these early systems, and those currently being tested. Recently the IEA through the SolarPACES working group, has embarked on a program to develop uniform guidelines for measuring and presenting performance data. These guidelines are to help potential buyers who want to evaluate a specific system relative to other dish/Stirling systems, or relative to other technologies such as photovoltaic, parabolic trough or central receiver systems. In this paper, a procedure is described that permits modeling of long-term energy production using only a few experimentally determined parameters. The benefit of using this technique is that relatively simple tests performed over a period of a few months can provide performance parameters that can be used in a computer model requiring only the input of insolation and ambient temperature data to determine long-term energy production information. A portion of this analytical procedure has been tested on the three 9-kW(e) systems in operation in Almeria, Spain. Further evaluation of these concepts is planned on a 7.5-kW(e) system currently undergoing testing at Cal Poly University in Pomona, California and later on the 25 kW(e) USJVP systems currently under development.
- Research Organization:
- Sandia National Laboratories (SNL), Albuquerque, NM, and Livermore, CA (United States)
- DOE Contract Number:
- AC04-94AL85000
- OSTI ID:
- 163315
- Report Number(s):
- CONF-950729-; TRN: IM9604%%420
- Resource Relation:
- Conference: 30. intersociety energy conversion engineering conference, Orlando, FL (United States), 30 Jul - 5 Aug 1995; Other Information: PBD: 1995; Related Information: Is Part Of Proceedings of the 30. intersociety energy conversion engineering conference. Volume 2; Goswami, D.Y. [ed.] [Univ. of Florida, Gainesville, FL (United States)]; Kannberg, L.D.; Somasundaram, S. [eds.] [Pacific Northwest Lab., Richland, WA (United States)]; Mancini, T.R. [ed.] [Sandia National Labs., Albuquerque, NM (United States)]; PB: 658 p.
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
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