ABSTRACT

The solar thermal power plant technology, the opportunities it presents and the developments in the
market are outlined. The focus is on the technology of parabolic trough power plants, a proven
technology for solar power generation on a large scale. In a parabolic trough power plant, troughshaped mirrors concentrate the solar irradiation onto a pipe in the focal line of the collector. The
thermal energy thus generated is used for electricity generation in a steam turbine. Parabolic trough
plants can be combined with thermal storage and fossil or biomass fired heat exchangers to generate
electricity even when the sun is not shining. Solar Millennium AG in Erlangen has developed the
first power plant of this kind in Europe. After two years of construction the plant started operation in
Southern Spain in 2008. This one and its sister projects are important steps leading the way for the
whole market. The paper also covers the technological challenges, the key components used and the
research and development activities concerning this technology. Solar thermal power plants are ideal
for covering peak and medium loads in power grids. In hybrid operation they can also cover base
load. The Solar Chimney power plant, another striking technology for the conversion of solar into
electric energy, is described briefly. The paper concludes with a look at the future the import of
solar energy from the deserts of North Africa to central Europe.
Limited fossil resources and severe environmental problems require new sustainable electricity
generation options, which utilize renewable energies and are economical in the meantime.
Concentrating solar power (CSP) generation is a proven renewable energy technology and has the
potential to become cost-effective in the future, for it produces electricity from the solar radiation. In
China, the electricity demand is rapidly increasing, while the solar resources and large wasteland
areas are widely available in the western and northern part of China. To change the energy-intensive
and environment-burdensome economical development way, Chinese government supports the
development of this technology strongly. These factors altogether make China a suitable country for
utilizing CSP technology.

ACKNOWLEDGEMENT
I express my sincere thanks to Mr.Manoj Chimpa, for guiding us right from the inception till the
successful completion of the report. I sincerely acknowledge him for extending their valuable
guidance, support for literature, critical reviews of the report & above all the moral support they had
provided us.
PAWAN KUMAR MALAV

1.INTRODUCTION

1.1Solar Energy
Solar energy is energy from the Sun in the form of heat and light. This energy drives the climate and
weather and supports virtually all life on Earth. Heat and light from the Sun, along with secondary
solar resources such as wind and wave power, hydroelectricity and biomass, account for over 99.9%
of the available flow of renewable energy on Earth.

Fig 1.1 Heat and light from the Sun fuel life on Earth.
Solar energy technologies harness the suns heat and light for practical ends such as heating, lighting
and electricity.
Solar power is used synonymously with solar energy or more specifically to refer to the conversion
of sunlight into electricity. This can be done with photovoltaics, concentrating solar thermal devices
and various experimental technologies.

1.2 Energy from the Sun

About half the incoming energy from the sun is absorbed by water and land masses, while the rest is
reradiated back into space (values are in PW =1015 W).

Earth continuously receives 174 petawatts of incoming solar radiation (isolation) at the upper
atmosphere. When it meets the atmosphere, 6 percent of the isolation is reflected and 16 percent is
absorbed. Average atmospheric conditions (clouds, dust, and pollutants) further reduce isolation
traveling through the atmosphere by 20 percent due to reflection and 3 percent via absorption. These
atmospheric conditions not only reduce the quantity of energy reaching the earths surface, but also
diffuse approximately 20 percent of the incoming light and filter portions of its spectrum. After
passing through the atmosphere, approximately half the isolation is in the visible electromagnetic
spectrum with the other half mostly in the infrared spectrum (a small part is ultraviolet radiation).

Fig 1.2
The absorption of solar energy by atmospheric convection (sensible heat transport) and evaporation
and condensation of water vapor (latent heat transport) powers the water cycle and drives the winds.
Sunlight absorbed by the oceans and land masses keeps the surface at an average temperature of 14
C. The small portion of solar energy captured by plants and other prototroph is converted to
chemical energy via photosynthesis. All the food we eat, wood we build with, and fossil fuels we use
are product of photosynthesis. The flows and stores of solar energy in the environment are vast in
comparison to human energy needs.
The total solar energy available to the earth is approximately 3850 zetta joules (ZJ) per year. Oceans
absorb approximately 2850 ZJ of solar energy per year. Winds can theoretically supply 6 ZJ of
energy per year. Biomass captures approximately 1.8 ZJ of solar energy per year. Worldwide energy
consumption was 0.471 ZJ in 2004.

2.ELECTRICITY GENERATION

Electricity can be generated from the sun in several ways. Photovoltaic (PV) has been mainly
developed for small and medium-sized applications, from the calculator powered by a single solar
cell to the PV power plant. For large-scale generation, concentrating solar thermal power plants have
been more common but new multi-megawatt PV plants have been built recently. Other solar
electrical generation technologies are still at the experimental stage.

2.1Concentrating Solar

Fig 2.1 A 16th century engraving shows early interest in using concentrated sunlight.

Concentrated sunlight has been used to perform useful tasks from the time of ancient China. Over the
following 50 years, inventors such as John Ericsson, and Frank Shuman developed solar-powered
devices for irrigation, refrigeration and locomotion. The progeny of these early developments are the
concentrating solar thermal power plants of today.
Concentrating Solar Thermal (CST) systems use lenses or mirrors and tracking systems to focus a
large area of sunlight into a small beam. This is then used to generate electricity. Moreover, the high
temperatures produced by CST systems can be used to provide process heat and steam for a variety
of secondary commercial applications (cogeneration). However, CST technologies require direct
insulation to function and are of limited use in locations with significant cloud cover. The main
methods for producing a concentrated beam are the solar trough, solar power tower and parabolic
dish; the solar bowl is more rarely used. Each concentration method is capable of producing high
temperatures and high efficiencies, but they vary in the way they track the sun and focus light.
A solar trough consists of a linear parabolic reflector that concentrates light onto a receiver
positioned along the reflectors focal line. The reflector is made to follow the sun during the daylight
5

hours by tracking along a single axis. A working fluid (oil, water) flows through the receiver and is
heated to 500 C before transferring its heat to a distillation or power generation system. Trough
systems are the most developed CST technology. The Solar Electric Generating System (SEGS)
plants in California and Plataforma Solar de Almerias SSPS-DCS plant in Spain are representatives
of this technology.
A parabolic dish or dish/engine system consists of a stand-alone parabolic reflector that concentrates
light onto a receiver positioned at the reflectors focal point. The reflector tracks the sun along two
axes. A working fluid (hydrogen, helium, air or water) flows through the receiver where it is heated
to 1000 C before transferring its heat to a Stirling engine for power generation. Parabolic dish
systems display the highest solar-to-electric efficiency among CST technologies and their modular
nature offers scalability. The Stirling Energy Systems (SES) and Science Applications International
Corporation (SAIC) dishes at UNLV and the Big Dish in Canberra, Australia, are representatives of
this technology.

Fig 2.2 The PS10 solar power tower near Sevillconcentrates sunlight from a field of heliostats on a
central tower.
A solar power tower consists of an array of flat reflectors (heliostats) that concentrate light on a
central receiver atop a tower. Focusing is critical and the reflectors track the sun through the day and
the year on two axes. A working fluid (air, water, molten salt) flows through the receiver where it is
heated up to 1500 C before transferring its heat to a power generation or energy storage system.
Power towers are less advanced than trough systems but they offer higher efficiency and better
energy storage capability.

A solar bowl consists of a fixed parabolic reflector that concentrates light onto a receiver which
tracks the focus of light as the sun moves across the sky. One has been constructed in Marseilles,
France and another in Auroville, India.
Concentrating Photovoltaic (CPV) systems convert concentrated light into electricity by PV rather
than heat engines. They also use tracking systems, mirrors, and lenses to achieve high concentration
ratios and are able to reach efficiencies above 40%. A solar power station planned for Victoria,
Australia will use heliostat concentrating PV technology similar to the power tower concept.
Solar thermal energy is a technology for harnessing solar energy for heat. Solar thermal collectors
are characterized by the US Energy Information Agency as low, medium, or high temperature
collectors. Low temperature collectors are flat plates generally used to heat swimming pools.
Medium-temperature collectors are also usually flat plates but are used for creating hot water for
residential and commercial use. High temperature collectors concentrate sunlight using mirrors or
lenses and are generally used for electric power production. This is different from solar
photovoltaics, which convert solar energy directly into electricity.

3.HIGH TEMPERATURE COLLECTORS

Where temperatures below about 95C are sufficient, as for space heating, flat-plate collectors of the
non-concentrating type are generally used. The fluid-filled pipes can reach temperatures of 150 to
220 degrees Celsius when the fluid is not circulating. This temperature is too low for efficient
conversion to electricity.

Fig 3.1 Concentrated solar power plant using parabolic trough design.

The efficiency of heat engines increases as the temperature of a heat source increases. In
concentrated solar power plants, the solar radiation is concentrated by mirrors or lenses to obtain the
higher temperature. The practical effect of high efficiencies is to reduce the plants collector size and
total land use, reducing the environmental impacts of a power plant as well as its expense.
As the temperature increases, different forms of conversion become practical. Up to 600C, steam
turbines, standard technology, have an efficiency up to 41%. Above this, gas turbines can be more
efficient. Higher temperatures are problematic because different materials and techniques are needed.
One proposal for very high temperatures is to use liquid fluoride salts operating above 1100C, using
multi-stage turbine systems to achieve 60% thermal efficiencies. The higher operating temperatures
permit the plant to use higher-temperature dry heat exchangers for its thermal exhaust, reducing the
plants water use- critical in the deserts where large solar plants are practical. High temperatures also
make heat storage more efficient, because more watt-hours are stored per kilo of fluid.
Since the CSP plant generates first heat, it is possible to store the heat before conversion to
electricity. With current technology, storage of heat is much cheaper and efficient than storage of
8

electricity. In this way, the CSP plant can produce electricity day and night. If the CSP site has
predictable solar radiation, then the CSP plant becomes a reliable power plant. Reliability can further
be improved by installing a back-up system that uses fossil energy. The back-up system can reuse
most of the CSP plant, which decreases the cost of the back-up system.
With reliability, unused desert, no pollution and no fuel costs, the only obstacle for large deployment
for CSP is cost. Although only a small percentage of the desert is necessary to meet global electricity
demand, still a large area must be covered with mirrors or lenses to obtain a significant amount of
energy. An important way to decrease cost is the use of a simple design.
During the day the sun has different positions. If the mirrors or lenses do not move, then the focus of
the mirrors or lenses changes. Therefore it seems unavoidable that there needs to be a tracking
system that follows the position of the sun (for solar photovoltaic a solar tracker is only optional).
The tracking system increases the cost. With this in mind, the different designs can be distinguished
in how they concentrate the light and track the position of the sun.
Many power plants today use fossil fuels as a heat source to boil water. The steam from the boiling
water rotates a large turbine, which activates a generator that produces electricity. However, a new
generation of power plants, with concentrating solar power systems, uses the sun as a heat source.
There are three main types of concentrating solar power systems: parabolic-trough, dish/engine, and
power tower.

4.PARABOLIC TROUGH DESIGNS

Parabolic trough power plants use a curved trough which reflects the direct solar radiation onto a
receiver (also called absorber or collector) running along above the trough. The trough is parabolic in
one direction and just straight in the other direction. For change of position of the sun orthogonal to
the receiver, the whole trough tilts so that direct radiation remains focused on the receiver. However,
a change of position of the sun parallel to the trough does not require adjustment of the mirrors, since
the light is just concentrated on another part of the receiver. So, the trough design avoids a second
axis for tracking.

Fig 4.1 Sketch of a parabolic trough design.

A substance (also called heat transfer fluid) passes through the receiver and becomes hot. Used
substances are synthetic oil, molten salt and pressurized steam. The receiver can be in a vacuum
chamber of glass. The light will shine through the glass and vacuum, but the vacuum will
significantly reduce convective loss of the collected heat. The substance with the heat is transported
to a heat engine where about a third of the heat is converted to electricity.
Full-scale parabolic trough systems consist of many such troughs laid out in parallel over a large area
of land.
Trough systems convert the heat from the sun into electricity. Because of their parabolic shape,
trough collectors can focus the sun at 30-60 times its normal intensity on a receiver pipe located
along the focal line of the trough. Synthetic oil circulates through the pipe and captures this heat,

10

reaching temperatures of 390 C (735 F). The hot oil is pumped to a generating station and routed
through a heat exchanger to produce steam. Finally, electricity is produced in a conventional steam
turbine. The SEGS plants are configured as hybrids to operate on natural gas on cloudy days or after
dark,

and

natural

gas

provides

25%

of

the

total

output.

Since 1985 a solar thermal system using this principle is in full operation in California in the United
States. It is called the SEGS system. Other CSP designs lack this kind of long experience and
therefore it can currently be said that the parabolic trough design is the only proven CSP technology.

4.1Solar Electricity Generating Systems

Fig 4.2 Aerial view of one of the SEGS plants.

Trough systems predominate among todays commercial solar power plants. Nine trough power
plants, called Solar Energy Generating Systems (SEGS), were built in the 1980s in the Mojave
Desert near Barstow. These plants have a combined capacity of 354 MW making them the largest
solar power installation in the world. Today they generate enough electricity to meet the power needs
of approximately 500,000 people.

11

5.POWER TOWER DESIGNS

Power towers (also known as central tower power plants or heliostat power plants) use an array of
flat, moveable mirrors (called heliostats) to focus the suns rays upon a collector tower (the receiver).

Fig 5.1 Solar Two. Flat mirrors focus the light on the top
of the tower.

The advantage of this design above the parabolic trough

design is the higher temperature. Thermal energy at
higher temperatures can be converted to electricity more
efficiently and can be more cheaply stored for later use.
Furthermore, there is less need to flatten the ground area.
In principle a power tower can be built on a hillside. Mirrors can be flat and plumbing is
concentrated in the tower. The disadvantage is that each mirror must have its own dual-axis control,
while in the parabolic trough design one axis can be shared for a large array of mirrors.
A working tower power plant is PS10 in Spain with a capacity of 11MW.
The 15MW Solar Tress plant with heat storage is under construction in Spain. In South Africa, a
100MW solar power plant is planned with 4000 to 5000 heliostat mirrors, each having an area of 140
m. A 10MW power plant in Cloncurry Australia (with purified graphite as heat storage located on
the tower directly by the receiver). The company Bright Source Energy has announced plans to build

12

500MWs worth of solar power plants, in 3 installations, in California with the Power Tower
technology of Luz II.
Out of commission are the 10MW Solar One (later redeveloped and made into Solar Two) and the
2MW Themis plants.
There is some hope that the development of cheap, durable, mass producible heliostat power plant
components could bring this cost down.

5.1Dish Designs
A dish system uses a large, reflective, parabolic dish (similar in shape to satellite television dish). It
focuses all the sunlight that strikes the dish up onto to a single point above the dish, where a receiver
captures the heat and transforms it into a useful form. Typically the dish is coupled with a Stirling
engine in a Dish-Stirling System, but also sometimes a steam engine is used. These create rotational
kinetic energy that can be converted to electricity using an electric generator.

Fig 5.2 A parabolic solar dish concentrating the suns rays

The advantage of a dish system is that it can achieve much higher temperatures due to the higher
concentration of light (as in tower designs).
A higher temperature leads to better conversion to electricity and the dish system is very efficient on
this point. However, there are also some disadvantages. Heat to electricity conversion requires
moving parts and those results in maintenance. In general, a centralized approach for this conversion
is better than the decentralized concept in the dish design. Second, the (heavy) engine is part of the
13

moving structure, which requires a rigid frame and strong tracking system. Furthermore, parabolic
mirrors are used instead of flat mirrors and tracking must be dual-axis.
In 2005 Southern California Edison announced an agreement to purchase solar powered Stirling
engines from Stirling Energy Systems over a twenty year period and in quantities (20,000 units)
sufficient to generate 500 megawatts of electricity. Stirling Energy Systems announced another
agreement with San Diego Gas & Electric to provide between 300 and 900 megawatts of electricity.
However, as of October 2007 it was unclear whether any progress had been made toward the
construction of the 1 MW test plant, which was supposed to come online some time in 2007.

5.2Fresnel Reflectors
A linear Fresnel reflector power plant uses a series of long, narrow, shallow-curvature (or even flat)
mirrors to focus light onto one or more linear receivers positioned above the mirrors. On top of the
receiver a small parabolic mirror can be attached for further focusing the light. These systems aim to
offer lower overall costs by sharing a receiver between several mirrors (as compared with trough and
dish concepts), while still using the simple line-focus geometry with one axis for tracking. This is
similar to the trough design (and different from central towers and dishes with dual-axis).

Fig 5.3 Wind load is avoided by the low position of the mirrors
The receiver is stationary and so fluid couplings are not required (as in troughs and dishes). The
mirrors also do not need to support the receiver, so they are structurally simpler. When suitable
aiming strategies are used (mirrors aimed at different receivers at different times of day), this can
allow a denser packing of mirrors on available land area.
Recent prototypes of these types of systems have been built in Australia (CLFR) and Belgium (Solar
Mundo). Based on the Australian prototype, a 177MW plant is proposed near San Luis Obispo in
California and will be built by Ausra

14

A Multi-Tower Solar Array (MTSA) concept, that uses a point-focus Fresnel reflector idea, has also
been developed, but has not yet been prototyped.

5.3Fresnel Lenses
Prototypes of Fresnel lens concentrators have been produced for the collection of thermal energy by
International Automated Systems. No full-scale thermal systems using Fresnel lenses are known to
be in operation, although products incorporating Fresnel lenses in conjunction with photovoltaic cells
are already available.
The advantage of this design is that lenses are cheaper than mirrors. Furthermore, if a material is
chosen that has some flexibility, then a less rigid frame is required to withstand wind load.

5.4Solar Pyramids
Another design is a pyramid shaped structure, which works by drawing in air, heating it with solar
energy and moving it through turbines to generate electricity. Solar pyramids have been built in
places like Australia. Currently India is building such pyramids.

15

6.HOW CSP WORKS

CSP plants use mirrors (sometimes called reflectors or heliostats) to focus sunlight onto a receiver
that can withstand being heated to very high temperatures. A gas or liquid inside the receiver then
transfers the heat to a power generation system such as a piston-driven external combustion engine
and generator (with dish-engine systems) or a steam turbine and generator (with parabolic troughs
and power towers).
Some CSP systems can store heat (using molten salt or high-temperature oil) to generate electricity
during cloudy periods and at night. Other systems operate in tandem with gas turbines to ensure that
high-value power is always available on demand.
In most CSP systems, mechanical drives slowly turn the reflectors during the day to keep sunlight
focused on the receiver.
The three types of CSP systems are parabolic troughs, power towers, and dish-engines.
Parabolic troughs collect and concentrate the suns energy with large, U-shaped (parabolic) reflectors
that have oil-filled pipes running along their center, or focal point, as shown in Diagram 1. The
mirrored reflectors focus sunlight on the pipes and heat the oil inside to as much as 750F. The hot
oil is then used to boil water, which makes steam to run conventional steam turbines and generators.

16

Fig6.1: A parabolic trough system

Power towers, also called central receivers, use many large, flat heliostats to track the sun and focus
its rays onto a receiver. As shown in Diagram 2, the receiver sits on top of a tall tower in which
concentrated sunlight heats a fluid, such as molten salt, as hot as 1,050F. The hot fluid can be used
immediately to make steam for electricity generation or stored for later use.

Fig6.2 : A power tower

Dish-engine systems

use mirrored dishes

(about 10 times larger

than

satellite dish) to focus

and

sunlight

onto

receiver. As shown in

Diagram

3,

a
the

Fig6.3: A solar dish-engine system

17

backyard
concentrate

receiver is mounted at

the focal point of the dish. To capture the maximum amount of solar energy, the dish assembly tracks
the sun across the sky. A single dish can produce 2 kW to 25 kW of electricity.

6.1Working of a solar tower plant

In central receiver solar tower concentrators, temperature can reach thousands of degrees celcius,
since a field of reflectors are arranged separately on sun tracking frames to reflect the sun on to a
boiler mounted on central tower.
A heat transfer fluid or gas is passed through the point or line of insolation concentration to collect
the heat and transfer it to the point of use such heat can be used either directly in industrial or
commercial process or indirectly in electricity production via. Steam and a turbine.

18

7.STEAMTURBINES
In a typical larger power stations, the steam turbines are split into three separate stages, the first
being the High Pressure (HP), the second the Intermediate Pressure (IP) and the third the
LowPressure (LP) stage, where high, intermediate and low describe the pressure of the.
After the steam has passed through the HP stage, it is returned to the boiler to be re-heated to its
original temperature although the pressure remains greatly reduced. The reheated steam then passes
through the IP stage and finally to the LP stage of the turbine.
A distinction is made between "impulse" and "reaction" turbine designs based on the relative
pressure drop across the stage. There are two measures for pressure drop, the pressure ratio and the
percent reaction. Pressure ratio is the pressure at the stage exit divided by the pressure at the stage
entrance. Reaction is the percentage isentropic enthalpy drop across the rotating blade or bucket
compared to the total stage enthalpy drop. Some manufacturers utilize percent pressure drop across
stage to define reaction.
Steam turbines can be configured in many different ways. Several IP or LP stages can be
incorporated into the one steam turbine. A single shaft or several shafts coupled together may be
used. Either way, the principles are the same for all steam turbines. The configuration is decided by
the use to which the steam turbine is put, co-generation or pure electricity production. For co-

19

generation, the steam pressure is highest when used as process steam and at a lower pressure when
used for the secondary function of electricity production.

7.1 NOZZLE AND BLADE

Steam enthalpy is converted into rotational energy as it passes through a turbine stage. A turbine
stage consists of a stationary blade (or nozzle) and a rotating blade (or bucket). Stationary blades
convert the potential energy of the steam (temperature and pressure) into kinetic energy (velocity)
and direct the flow onto the rotating blades. The rotating blades convert the kinetic energy into
impulse and reaction forces caused by pressure drop, which results in the rotation of the turbine shaft
or rotor.
Steam turbines are machines which must be designed, manufactured and maintained to high
tolerances so that the design power output and availability is obtained. They are subject to a number
of damage mechanisms, with two of the most important being:

Erosion due to moisture. The presence of water droplets in the last stages of a turbine causes erosion
to the blades. This has led to the imposition of an allowable limit of about 12% wetness in the
Exaust steam and Solid particle erosion. The entrainment of erosive materials from the boiler in the
steam causes wear to the turbine blades.
Turbines can be condensing or non-condensing design typically with large mass flows and
comparably low output. Traditionally, pressures were 6.21 MPa and below with temperatures 441 C
or lower, although the trend towards higher levels of each continues.
There are now a considerable number of co-generation steam turbines with initial steam pressures in
the 8.63 to 10 MPa range and steam temperatures of 482 to 510 C.

20

7.2Bearings and Lubrication

Two types of bearings are used to support and locate the rotors of steam turbines:
Journal bearings are used to support the weight of the turbine rotors. A journal bearing consists of
two half-cylinders that enclose the shaft and are internally lined with Babbitt, a metal alloy usually
consisting of tin, copper and antimony; and
Thrust bearings axially locate the turbine rotors. A thrust bearing is made up of a series of Babbitt
lined pads that run against a locating disk attached to the turbine rotor.
High-pressure oil is injected into the bearings to provide lubrication. The oil is carefully filtered to
remove solid particles. Specially designed centrifuges remove any water from the oil.

7.3Shaft Seals
The shaft seal on a turbine rotor consist of a series of ridges and groves around the rotor and its
housing which present a long, tortuous path for any steam leaking through the seal. The seal
therefore does not prevent the steam from leaking, merely reduces the leakage to a minimum. The
leaking steam is collected and returned to a low-pressure part of the steam circuit.

7.4Turning gear
large steam turbines are equipped with "turning gear" to slowly rotate the turbines after they have

21

been shut down and while they are cooling. This evens out the temperature distribution around the
turbines and prevents bowing of the rotors.

7.5Vibration
The balancing of the large rotating steam turbines is a critical component in ensuring the reliable
operation of the plant. Most large steam turbines have sensors installed to measure the movement of
the shafts in their bearings. This condition monitoring can identify many potential problems and
allows the repair of the turbine to be planned before the problems become serious.

8.CONDENSER AND COOLING SYSTEM

8.1Condensers
The function of the condenser is to condense exhaust steam from the steam turbine by rejecting the
heat of vaporization to the cooling water passing through the condenser. The temperature of the
condensate determines the pressure in the steam/condensate side of the condenser. This pressure is
called the turbine backpressure and is usually a vacuum. Decreasing the condensate temperature will
result in a lowering of the turbine backpressure. Note: Within limits, decreasing the turbine

22

backpressure

will

increase

the

thermal

efficiency

The condenser also has the following secondary functions:

The condensate is collected in the condenser hot well, from which the condensate pumps take their
suction; Provide short-term storage of condensate; Provide a low-pressure collection point for
condensate drains from other systems in the plant; and Provide for de-aeration of the collected
condensate.

Fig 8.1 A typical power plant condenser has the following

functional arrangement.
The parts of shell and tube condensers and plate condensers involved in the transfer of heat from the
steam

and

condensate

to

the

cooling

water

should

have

the

following

properties:

Be resistant to corrosion from both the steam/condensate and the cooling water;
Have a minimal resistance to the flow of heat from the steam/condensate through the material into
the cooling water; and Provide mechanisms to remove organic and inorganic deposits on the heat
transfer surfaces in contact with the cooling water.

8.2Types of Cooling Systems

Some power stations have an open cycle (once through) cooling water system where water is taken
from a body of water, such as a river, lake or ocean, pumped through the plant condenser and
discharged back to the source. Inland plants away from large water bodies prefer to use closed cycle
wet cooling system with wet cooling towers. Plants in remote dry areas without economic water
supplies use closed cycle dry cooling systems that do not require water for cooling. Hybrid cooling
systems

are

used

in

particular

circumstances.

The type of cooling system used is therefore heavily influenced by the location of the plant and on

23

the availability of water suitable for cooling purposes. The selection process is also influenced by the
cooling system's environmental impacts.

8.2.1Open Cycle Cooling Systems

Open cycle (once through) cooling systems may be used for plants sited beside large water bodies
such as the sea, lakes or large rivers that have the ability to dissipate the waste heat from the steam
cycle. In the open system, water pumped from intakes on one side of the power plant passes through
the condensers and is discharged at a point remote from the intake (to prevent recycling of the warm
water discharge).

Open systems typically have high flow rates and relatively low temperature rises to limit the rise in
temperature in the receiving waters. A typical 350 MW unit would have a flow of some 15000 to
20000 L/s.
Lake cooling systems are a variant on a true open system as the temperature of the lake is increased
from the circulation of the warm water. Environmental requirements have become more stringent on
the allowable rise in temperature of the receiving waters, so that closed systems are now more
commonly used in Australia.

8.2.2Open Cycle with Helper Cooling Tower

In this system, cooling towers are installed on the discharge from open systems in order to remove
part of the waste heat, so that the load on the receiving waters is contained within pre set limits.

24

Systems with helper cooling towers are common in Germany and France where cooling supplies are
drawn from the large rivers. The helper towers are used in the warmer summer periods to limit the
temperature of the discharged cooling water, usually to less than 30 C.

9.ADVANTAGES & DISADVANTAGES OF CSP

9.1Advantages:
CSP is a good choice in todays unpredictable power markets. CSP uses proven technology. CSP
systems can store thermal energy or be combined with conventional fossil fuels to enable them to
operate in cloudy weather or to shift power output to peak demand periods. CSP can deliver power
on demand, and its power generation methods resemble those already used by the nations power

25

industry. CSP is affordable, and it is versatile. Whether for small-scale distributed power generation
or for a large-scale power plant, a new CSP system can be brought on line relatively quickly.
CSP is a reliable technology. Parabolic trough power plants in the Southern California desert have
sold nearly 7 billion kWh of solar electricity since 1984. Over time, their output has increased by
35%, and costs have dropped by 40%. Because these plants operate in conjunction with gas turbines,
they deliver power when it is needed, not just when the sun is shining.
Power towers, designed for use in large solar power plants, dont just provide electricity when the
sun is shining. They can also store energy for power generation on cloudy days or at night. (Heat
storage is also under development for parabolic trough systems.)
Solar dish systems are the most efficient solar electric systems in the world and have demonstrated a
solar-to-electric conversion efficiency of 29.4%. They are well-suited for utility line support and
distributed power generation. Dish systems can be installed individually for rural industries or
grouped to form a small power plant.
CSP systems are easy for utilities to work with. They use many of the same technologies and
equipment as conventional power plants. CSP systems simply substitute concentrated sunlight for
fossil fuels.
CSP is good for the environment. CSP plants produce no emissions of pollutants or greenhouse gases
during electricity generation.

There are numerous advantages to this solution:

1. CSP works. There are CSP plants operating successfully in California, Arizona, Spain, the Nevada
desert and Southern Australia.
2. Its a carbon-free, nuclear-free solution
3. CSP has huge potential in terms of scale. Every year it pours down the equivalent of 1.5m barrels
of oil of energy for every square kilometre.
4. A Europe-wide grid of HVDC Transmission lines could be stored underground and even under the
sea.

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5. Although capital costs would be high, running costs and maintenance would be low. After all, no
uranium or fuel needs to be found - it is merely dependent on the sun as its constantly renewable
source of energy.
6. Studies by the German Aerospace Centre demonstrate that by covering just 0.5% of the worlds
hot deserts with CSP would provide the worlds entire electricity needs, with the technology also
providing desalinated water to desert regions as a valuable byproduct, as well as air conditioning for
nearby cities.
7. CSP is cheaper than oil (currently at $60 per barrel and increasing), calculated at around $50 per
barrel of oil equivalent for the cost of building a plant, falling sharply to about $20, as the production
of the mirrors reaches industrial levels. It is about half the equivalent cost of using the photovoltaic
cells that people have on their roofs. The TRANS-CSP Report estimates that CSP electricity
delivered to London would cost about 5.5 eurocents per kilowatt-hour, including the cost of
transmission.
8. The electricity generated can be transmitted over very long distances with transmission losses of
no more than about 3% per 1000 km. For the whole of Europe, the Middle East and North Africa, it
is estimated that average transmission losses would be about 10%. Considering that the fuel is free,
this compares well with the 70%+ losses that have been accepted for many years in conventional
coal-fired power stations (where the fuel is far from being free).
9. Unlike nuclear with its storage problems, unresolved sequestration issues, high cost of obtaining
uranium and high risk of terrorist intervention, CSP has none of these disadvantages.
10. Its a brilliant solution.

9.2Disadvantages:
One of the main disadvantages of solar power is consistency and reliability. Solar-powered devices
rely on the steady delivery of special atoms called photons to keep the electricity generating process
going. As soon as the sun disappears behind thick clouds or falls below the horizon at night, the
photons stop striking the solar panels and the power drops instantly. Some solar power can be stored
in large battery arrays, but this arrangement would be impractical for motor vehicles and insufficient

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for major power stations. Solar power would only be viable with current technology as long as the
suns photon atoms can strike a solar panel directly. If there is no sun, there is simply no power.
Some disadvantages of solar power are economic in nature. At present, solar panels designed to
generate electricity are fairly expensive to produce. Since a single solar panel can only generate a
relatively small amount of electricity, an expensive and bulky array of solar panels would be needed
to provide a sufficient level of electricity for homes or vehicles. These solar panels also have to be
adjusted throughout the day in order to maintain a direct angle with the sun. Indirect sunlight is only
marginally better than no sunlight at all, so a mechanical orientation system would also need to be
implemented to turn all of the solar panels. An entire field filled with mirrors could focus the suns
energy on a power generator, but maintenance of such a system would be prohibitively expensive.
Other disadvantages of solar power are technical. The materials used to create a solar panel are
constantly exposed to other things besides photon atoms. The constant bombardment of ultraviolet
(UV) rays and other solar radiation often causes the panels themselves to deteriorate, much like any
other material left exposed to the sun for extended periods of time. If current solar panels were used
to provide electricity for private homes, there might be an entirely new industry dedicated to the
maintenance and replacement of failed panels.
Perhaps one of the most noticeable disadvantages of solar power is the sheer volume of solar panels
needed to generate very little energy. A solar-powered vehicle, for example, might solve many of the
worlds energy problems, but currently these vehicles are clearly not commercially viable. In order to
generate enough electrical power to the vehicles motor, virtually every square inch of the exterior
must be covered in solar panels. Even then, the sole driver is often wedged into a small compartment
with little more than a steering wheel and an electric meter. Commercial passenger vehicles would
require significantly more electrical power, and a better battery system would have to be developed
for any driving on cloudy days or at night.
A disadvantage of CSP is the relatively high cost of building a new solar energy power plant. To
recover these costs, plant operators need to be able to sign long-term power purchase agreements

10.APPLICATIONS

Small CSP systems can power remote villages and provide distributed power generation in hot and
sunny rural areas. Large CSP plants can provide electricity on nearly the same scale as coal- or
natural gas-fired power plants. For instance, nine CSP plants in Californias Mojave Desert produce

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600 million kWh of electricity each yearenough to meet the needs of more than 350,000 people.
The parabolic trough systems used in these facilities have a proven track record with utilities.
Parabolic trough and power tower systems are under consideration for grid-connected power plants
in the United States, Crete, Spain, and Jordan. In the Southwest United States, for example, utilities
are exploring the use of CSP to augment conventional power generation by gas turbines on hot,
sunny days.
Small dish-engine systems are being developed for distributed and residential uses in the Southwest
and for export to developing countries. Homeowners and businesses wanting a green energy option
will soon be able to choose CSP. In areas without access to power lines, CSP systems can be
integrated with other renewable energy systems to provide an attractive alternative to diesel
generator sets.
The fastest growing market for standalone solar power technologies is in developing countries in
Asia, Africa, and Latin America. Dish-engine systems, ranging in size from 2 kW to 25 kW, are
under development for remote applications such as water pumping and village power. Solar power
projects are currently planned for Egypt, India, Iran, Mexico, and Morocco.

APPLICATIONS IN INDIA
Rural electrification
Lack of electricity infrastructure is one of the main hurdles in the development of rural India. India's
grid system is considerably under-developed, with major sections of its populace still surviving offgrid. As on 2004 there are about 80,000 unelectrified villages in the country. Of these villages,
18,000 could not be electrified through extension of the conventional grid. A target for electrifying
5000 such villages was fixed for the Tenth National Five Year Plan (2002-2007). As on 2004, more
than 2700 villages and hamlets had been electrified mainly using SPV systems. Developments on
cheap solar technology are considered as a potential alternative that allows an electricity
infrastructure comprising of a network of local-grid clusters with distributed electricity generation.
That could allow bypassing, or at least relieving the need of installing expensive, and loss, longdistance centralized power delivery systems and yet bring cheap electricity to the masses.

Agricultural support
Water pumping:
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Solar PV water pumping systems are used for irrigation and drinking water. The majority of the
pumps are fitted with a 200 watt - 3,000 watt motor that are powered with 1,800 Wp PV array which
can deliver about 140,000 liters of water/day from a total head of 10 meters. By 30th September,
2006, a total of 7,068 solar PV water pumping systems have been installed.
. Cooling
Another e.g. is the cost of energy expended on temperature control - a factor squarely influencing
regional energy intensity. With cooling load demands being roughly in phase with the sun's intensity,
cooling from intense solar radiation could be an attractive energy-economic option in the
subcontinent.

11.STATUS IN INDIA

11.1Installed capacity

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The amount of solar energy produced in India is merely 0.5 % compared to other energy resources
The Grid-interactive solar power as on Jun, 2007 was merely 2.12 MW. Government-funded solar
energy in India only accounted for approximately 6.4 megawatt-years of power as of 2005.

11.2Still unaffordable
Solar power is currently prohibitive due to high initial costs of deployment. For spawning a thriving
solar market, the technology needs to be competitively cheaper - i.e. attaining cost parity with fossil
or nuclear energy. India is heavily dependent on coal and foreign oil - a phenomenon likely to
continue until non-fossil / renewable energy technology become economically viable in the country.
The cost of production ranges from Rs 15 to Rs 30 per unit compared to around Rs 2 to Rs 6 per unit
for conventional thermal energy

11.3Government policy
The Ministry of New and Renewable Energy (MNRE) have initiated schemes and incentives - like
subsidy, soft loan, confessional duty on raw material imports, excise duty exemption on certain
devices/systems etc - to boost the production and use of solar energy systems. The Indian Renewable
Energy Development Agency (IREDA) provides revolving fund to financing and leasing companies
offering affordable credit for the purchase of PV systems. An Expert Committee constituted by the
Planning Commission has prepared an Integrated Energy Policy which envisions a 10 million square
meter solar collector area, to be set up by 2022, and capable of conserving electricity equivalent to
that generated from a 500 MW power plant. The state of West Bengal has initiated to make the use of
solar power mandatory in new multi-storied buildings. However the Indian government support is
insignificant compared to the support solar energy receives by governments in Europe and East Asia.

11.4Solar Funds and Investments

With high deployment price as the main hurdle before a solar market, various organizations have
developed innovative funding schemes to catalyze solar's attractiveness. One of the most successful
examples is the solar loan programme in India, sponsored by UNEP in partnership with two of
India's major banking groups - Canara Bank and Syndicate Bank, and their sponsored Grameen
Banks. It was a four-year $7.6 million effort, launched in April 2003 to help accelerate the market for
financing solar home systems in southern India. Foreign Direct Investment up to 100 percent is
permitted in non-conventional energy sector through the automatic route. The Multilateral
Development Banks like World Bank and Asian Development Bank are also helping India but, the
funding from MDBs on solar energy enhancement is negligible compare to other clean energy

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support in India. Investment by private companies is a trend that has just started. (Examples include
Signet Solar, U.S.-based Cypress Semiconductor, Sun Technique Energy, etc.)

11.5Thar Desert
In 1996 Amoco/Enron Solar Power Development planned to build a 50 MW solar photovoltaic plant
in the Thar Desert near Jaisalmer in Rajasthan state. Two other projects were proposed, one a 50 MW
photovoltaics plant and the other a 200 MW solar chimney. None of these have been completed. The
Rajashtan government, however, has set aside a 35,000 km area of the Thar desert for solar power.

12.CHALLENGES AND CONSTRAINTS

12.1Land scarcity
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Per capita land availabiity is a scarce resource in India. Dedication of land area for exclusive
installation of solar cells might have to compete with other necessities that require land. The amount
of land required for utility-scale solar power plants - currently approximately 1 sq km for every 2060 megawatts (MW) generated

- could pose a strain on India's available land resource. The

architecture more suitable for most of India would be a higly distributed, individual rooftop power
generation systems, all connected via a local grid. However, erecting such an infrastructure - which
doesn't enjoy the economies of scale possible in mass utility-scale solar panel deployment - needs the
market price of solar technology deployment to substantially decline so that it attracts the individual
and average family size household consumer. That might be possible in the future, since PV is
projected to continue its current cost reductions for the next decades and be able to compete with
fossil fuel.

12.2Slow progress
While the world has progressed substantially in production of basic silicon mono-crystalline
photovoltaic cells, India has fallen short to achieve the worldwide momentum. India has now on the
7th place worldwide in Solar Photovoltaic (PV) Cell production and 9th place in Solar Thermal
Systems with nations like Japan, Europe, China, and the US currently ranked far ahead. Globally,
solar is the fastest growing source of energy (though from a small base) with an annual average
growth of 35%, as seen during the past few years.

12.3Latent potential
Major think-tanks have designed blueprints for India's transition to renewable energy - that rein on
its carbon emissions, without compromising its economic growth. For example, in one of the
envisioned scenarios, renewable resources like solar could become the backbone of Indias economy
by 2050. Being a densely populated region in the sunny tropical belt, India's very long-term solar
potential has been observed to be unparalleled in the world, since the subcontinent has the ideal
combination of both high solar isolation and a big potential consumer base density.

13.CONCLUSION

Solar power generation is one of the most important sectors these days. Every developed and
developing country is making a move in the field of solar power. Harnessing solar energy by
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concentrating power plants is one of the best alternative to the other sources, because the other
alternative for power generation sooner or later

Will be exhausted.

Will become increasingly more expensive.

Will lead to environmental consequences.

May not be able to meet the existing demand.

In CSP problems like exploration, extraction and transportation are not there. Although generating
electricity using CSP is costly and is also not constant. These drawbacks are taken care of by
research organizations.
In India solar concentrating power plant are gaining attentions in Thar Desert of Rajasthan and in
some area of Gujrat. Many challenges are there in the field of CSP, but nothing is impossible.

REFERENCES

JAIN R.K. Thermal engineering, VOL-S II

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www.wikipedia.org

www.renewableenergy.com

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