Solar Power Plants Design

There are many fundamental differences between CTR technology and other CSP technologies. For example, in the case of PT, solar energy collected by the receiver is directly proportional to the land area of the SF. However, in the case of CTR, solar energy collected by the SF is a complex function of the SF layout respect to the tower. Therefore, for developing a methodology to achieve the optimal design for solar CTR system, it should obtain a method for determining the boundary of the SF around the tower. Hence, this chapter introduces a proposed computer program for optimal design of a CTR system to be interconnected with electric grid. The proposed computer program has been designed to determine an optimum number of heliostats field, land area, and mirror area. The computer program can completely design the CTRPP system interconnected with electric grid and determines the optimum operation hour by hour through the year. Then, it estimates the monthly energy excess and monthly energy shortage. In addition, this chapter introduces also a proposed program for optimal design of a PV system. The program has been designed to determine an optimum number of PV modules, number of inverters, and land area for the system under study. It estimates the monthly surplus energy and monthly deficit energy. Finally, it presents an optimal design for CTR/PV hybrid solar systems.