Title: Development of high concentration photovoltaics (HCPV) power plants in the US Southwest: Economic assessment and sensitivity analysis

Journal Article · · Sustainable Energy Technologies and Assessments
 [1];  [2];  [3];  [4]
  1. Univ. of Utah, Salt Lake City, UT (United States). Dept. of Chemical Engineering; Univ. of Utah, Salt Lake City, UT (United States)
  2. Univ. of Kashan, Kashan (Iran). Energy Research Inst. Faculty of Mechanical Engineering
  3. Univ. of Kashan, Kashan (Iran). Energy Research Inst. Faculty of Mechanical Engineering
  4. Univ. of Utah, Salt Lake City, UT (United States). Dept. of Chemical Engineering; Univ. of Utah, Salt Lake City, UT (United States). Dept. of Mechanical Engineering
+ Show Author Affiliations

High concentration photovoltaic (HCPV) technologies offer several advantages over typical PV systems. In this study, a detailed economic assessment and sensitivity analysis of deploying HCPV plants in the US southwest is performed. To do this, a 20 MWdc HCPV power plant is designed using the System Advisor Model (SAM) and is evaluated from both technical and financial aspects. The sensitivity analysis shows that reducing the installed cost per capacity of the HCPV system can significantly improve the economics and reduce the levelized cost of electricity (LCOE) and levelized power purchase agreement (LPPA). Also, providing proper incentives including both investment tax credits (ITC) and production tax credit (PTC), loan debt ratio, and interest rate are among the most influential parameters. The analysis shows that with the 30% ITC, the LCOE, and LPPA of the designed HCPV projects are between $65.4/MWh and $69.3/MWh and between $71.0/MWh and $75.2/MWh, respectively. The estimated LCOE and LPPA values are almost 50% higher than the utility-scale PV projects. If proper funding is provided to continue the support of the HCPV system, they would become more economical and competitive with PV plants. Federal and state government policies must also be established to advocate HCPV systems.

Research Organization:
Univ. of Utah, Salt Lake City, UT (United States)
Sponsoring Organization:
USDOE Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy (EERE)
Grant/Contract Number:
EE0007712
OSTI ID:
1848555
Journal Information:
Sustainable Energy Technologies and Assessments, Journal Name: Sustainable Energy Technologies and Assessments Journal Issue: C Vol. 42; ISSN 2213-1388
Publisher:
ElsevierCopyright Statement
Country of Publication:
United States
Language:
English

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14 SOLAR ENERGY
42 ENGINEERING
Economic analysis
Energy & Fuels
High concentration photovoltaics
Levelized cost of electricity
Power purchase agreement
Science & Technology - Other Topics
Sensitivity analysis