Performance evaluation of solar chimney power plants in Iran

The solar chimney power plant is a simple solar thermal power plant that is capable of converting solar energy into thermal energy in the solar collector. In the second stage, the generated thermal energy is converted into kinetic energy in the chimney and ultimately into electric energy using a combination of a wind turbine and a generator. The purpose of this study is to evaluate the performance of solar chimney power plants in some parts of Iran theoretically and to estimate the quantity of the produced electric energy. A mathematical model based on the energy balance was developed to estimate the power output of solar chimneys as well as to examine the effect of various ambient conditions and structural dimensions on the power generation. The solar chimney power plant with 350 m chimney height and 1000 m collector diameter is capable of producing monthly average 1-2 MW electric power over a year. (C) 2011 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.