Optimal Performance for Solar Thermal Power System

Jianfeng LU, Jing DING, Jianping YANG

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DOI: 10.4236/epe.2009.12017                

Abstract

Solar thermal power is currently one of the important trends and research hotspots of solar energy. In present paper, basic physical model is proposed to investigate the solar thermal power, and the operating temperature is optimized to maximize the electricity generating efficiency. When the concentrated energy flux rises, the absorption efficiency of heat receiver will first increase and then decrease, while the increasing of flow velocity can improve the absorption performance. As the working temperature rising, the heat loss of infrared radiation and natural convection increases quickly, so the absorption efficiency obviously decreases, while the Carnot efficiency of the steam turbine cycle will rise. Because of the coupling effects of the heat absorption cycle and turbine cycle, the electricity generating efficiency will reach maximum with the optimal working temperature.

Keywords

solar energy, heat receiver, operating temperature, electricity generating efficiency

Conflicts of Interest

The authors declare no conflicts of interest.

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