A Novel Hybrid CSP-PV Power Plant Based on Brayton Supercritical CO2 Thermal Machines

Article Energy & Fuels

Carnot Battery Based on Brayton Supercritical CO2 Thermal Machines Using Concentrated Solar Thermal Energy as a Low-Temperature Source

Jose Ignacio Linares et al.

Summary: Carnot batteries store surplus power as heat using a heat pump, high-temperature storage system, and a heat engine.

ENERGIES (2023)

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Article Energy & Fuels

Parametric analysis on optimized design of hybrid solar power plants

John L. Cox et al.

Summary: There is growing interest in utility-scale solar power plants with storage that can dispatch renewable energy to the grid flexibly. Plant design has many degrees of freedom and hidden trade-offs in performance. Software tools can estimate or optimize the performance of a specific plant configuration under market and weather conditions, and the associated cost parameters and operating assumptions strongly affect plant performance estimates and decisions on optimal sizing. The study investigates the sensitivity to weather and market conditions, operating limitations, and capacity-based incentives using the National Renewable Energy Laboratory's Hybrid Optimization and Performance Platform. The results demonstrate changes in plant performance and optimal sizing based on these inputs and discuss their implications.

SOLAR ENERGY (2023)

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Article Energy & Fuels

Simultaneous design and operational optimization of hybrid CSP-PV plants

L. Pilotti et al.

Summary: This study investigates the optimal design of highly integrated hybrid CSP-PV power plants, where excess PV electricity is converted into heat by electric heaters and stored in the CSP hot storage tank. The results show that the hybrid solutions can achieve similar or better dispatchability levels at a lower cost of electricity compared to stand-alone technologies.

APPLIED ENERGY (2023)

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Article Thermodynamics

Integrated CSP-PV hybrid solar power plant for two cities in Saudi Arabia

Hisham Sumayli et al.

Summary: Solar energy has the potential to provide sustainable electricity for mankind, and integrating photovoltaic (PV) with concentrated solar power (CSP) can reduce costs and improve the utilization of solar energy. A study in Saudi Arabia shows that hybridization of PV and CSP technologies can reduce the solar multiple and lower the levelized cost of energy (LCOE), making solar baseload power more affordable.

CASE STUDIES IN THERMAL ENGINEERING (2023)

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Article Thermodynamics

Techno-economic feasibility of solar power plants considering PV/CSP with electrical/thermal energy storage system

Tianye Liu et al.

Summary: This study proposes a solar power plant with multiple combinations, including photovoltaic (PV) plants, thermal storage systems (TES) and batteries. By conducting multi-objective optimization, it is found that, in the current economic scenario, combinations including TES have better economy and reliability, and integrating CSP into PV systems can most economically improve reliability. With the reduction of energy storage costs, there is a competitive relationship between batteries and TES, but solar power plants with integrated CSP remain effective in enhancing generation reliability. In cost-reduction scenarios, batteries gradually show their advantages and integrating batteries into PV plants becomes more competitive.

ENERGY CONVERSION AND MANAGEMENT (2022)

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Article Energy & Fuels

Electrical energy storage using a supercritical CO2 heat pump

Paul Tafur-Escanta et al.

Summary: This work proposes a new Pumped Thermal Energy Storage (PTES) configuration that utilizes supercritical CO2 as the working fluid and molten salts as the thermal storage fluid. The proposed system achieves a net work of 12.46 MW during the load and 10 MW during the discharge, with an efficiency of 80.26%. Furthermore, a techno-economic optimization is conducted, resulting in a discounted cost per unit of energy discharged from this storage technology of 0.116 (sic)/kWh. This technology is a strong candidate for future energy solutions due to its low wear per duty cycle and easy power scalability, along with a lower initial cost compared to other technologies with low LCOS.

ENERGY REPORTS (2022)

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Article Thermodynamics

Load matching and techno-economic analysis of CSP plant with S-CO2 Brayton cycle in CSP-PV-wind hybrid system

Jingze Yang et al.

Summary: This study analyzes the load matching and techno-economic performance of concentrated solar power (CSP) plants in a CSP-PV-wind hybrid system, showing that the lowest LCOE of CSP plants under stable output scenarios is higher. As the solar multiple (SM) and thermal energy storage (TES) capacity increase, the capacity factor of the hybrid system also increases, and the LCOE of CSP plants first decreases and then increases.

ENERGY (2021)

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Article Energy & Fuels