Concentrated Solar Power Plant

Based On
Parabolic Trough Technology

INDEX
 Introduction
 Concentrated solar power
 Technologies
 Recommended csp
 technology
 operation and maintenance of solar power plants
 solar plant availability
 collector technologies
 comparison of collector technologies
 list of recommended solar companies
 list of shortlisted solar companies as per our
requirements
 conclusion
INTRODUCTION

Concentrating Solar Power Technologies

Concentrating solar power (CSP) technologies, sometimes referred to as solar thermal electric
technologies, have been developed for power generation applications. Historically, the focus has
been on the development of cost-effective solar technologies for large (100 MWe or greater) central
power plant applications.. The leading CSP candidate technologies for utility-scale applications are
parabolic troughs, molten-salt power towers, parabolic dishes with Sterling engines, and
concentrating photovoltaic’s.

Parabolic trough
Parabolic trough HTST plants (Figure 2) are considered to be the most economic and most mature HTST
technology available today. Parabolic trough-shaped mirror reflectors are used to concentrate sunlight
onto thermally-efficient receiver tubes placed in the trough focal line.

In these tubes a thermal transfer fluid is circulated, such as a synthetic thermal oil. Heated to
approximately 400°C by the concentrated sun’s rays, this oil is then pumped through a series of heat
exchangers to produce superheated steam. The steam is converted to electrical energy in a conventional
steam turbine generator, which can either be part of a conventional steam cycle or integrated into a
combined steam and gas turbine cycle.

Linear Fresnel
A Linear Fresnel Reflector (LFR) is a single-axis tracking technology that focuses sunlight reflected by
long heliostats onto a linear receiver to convert solar energy to heat. The classical linear Fresnel system
uses an array of mirror strips close to the ground to direct solar radiation to a single, linear, elevated,
fixed receiver (Figure 3). The technology is seen as a lower cost alternative to trough technology for the
production of solar steam for power generation. The main advantages of the Linear Fresnel collector,
compared to trough collectors, are seen to be 1:

 Inexpensive planar mirrors and simple tracking system.

 Fixed absorber tube with no need for flexible high pressure joints or thermal expansion bellows.
 No vacuum technology and no metal-to-glass ceiling.
 Wind loads are substantially reduced on the reflector strips, so the reflector width for one
absorber tube can be up to three times the width of parabolic troughs.
 Due to direct steam generation no heat exchanger is necessary — although trough technology
also is evolving to direct steam generation (see Section 2.1.1).
 Efficient use of land since the collectors can be placed close to one another.

Power tower
Power towers use a circular or semi-circular array of heliostats (large individually-tracking mirrors) to
concentrate sunlight on to a central receiver mounted at the top of a tower (Figure 4). A heat transfer
medium in this central receiver absorbs the highly concentrated radiation reflected by the heliostats and
converts it into thermal energy to be used for the subsequent generation of superheated steam for
turbine operation. Heat transfer media so far demonstrated include water/steam, molten salts, liquid

sodium and air.

Concentrating sunlight over 500 times, power tower technology has the potential advantage of
delivering high temperature solar heat in utility scale quantities at temperatures of 500°C or more for
steam cycles and greater than 1,000°C for gas turbines and combined cycle power plants.

Parabolic dish
Using parabolic dishes is a well-tested approach to concentrate solar radiation, and was an early
experimental tool at many locations worldwide. The optical efficiency of parabolic dishes is considerably
higher than that of trough, LFR or power tower systems because the mirror is always pointed directly at

1
the sun, whereas the trough, LFR and power tower have a reduction in projected area due to a frequent
low angle of incidence of the solar radiation (known as cosine losses). However, the higher optical
efficiency of dishes (which ultimately translates to a higher efficiency of conversion of sunlight to
electricity2) is partially offset because their capital cost per installed megawatt currently is higher than
the others. How these efficiency—capital cost tradeoffs translate to levelised energy cost must be
determined on a case-by-case basis for commercial HTST plants.

Market potential
“the cost of power from a solar thermal power plant is mainly due to the initial construction investment
cost and the low capacity factor, the fuel cost is zero as the energy input is free. This makes the marginal
cost of generating very low and competitive with coal fired plant in this respect. However, once the
return on capital is factored it would require that the investor receive a relatively high price for the
electricity for the economic life of the plant, to make a project financially viable.Since the technology is
still in an early stage of development the construction cost is expected to reduce as experience is gained..
The “all in” plant costs for previous concentrating solar plants resulted in electricity prices in the range
$170 to $210/MWh. Technology improvements have since reduced this price to $120 to $150/MWh.
Cost reductions for solar plants are related to the installed MW and further technology improvements.
The approximate cost of a solar plant is estimated to be around $3000/kW based on US conditions.The
levelised cost of electricity from solar thermal is likely to reduce as a function of MW installed. At the
5000MW level it has been estimated that electricity may be able to be produced at $80/MWh.”

Comparision of technologies

Technolog Focus technolo Tempe- Hybrid Cost World World World

y gy Capacit Operatio ($/KWe) capacity(MWe capacity( capacity(M
y, MWe n ) MWe We
rature
Operational Under Announced
constructi
on

Parabolic line Syntheti 400ºC Possible 4,156(19,53 570 1550+140 5775.1

trough c oil ,32,000INR ISCC
)
Solar point Molten 1,000ºC Possible 4,500(21,15 34 22 1514
tower salt ,00000INR)
Parabolic point Sterling 750ºC Still in 6,000(28,20 0.5 1600.08
dish motor R&D ,00000INR)
phase
Linear line steam 270ºC Possible 2,200(10,34 8.4 487
fresnel ,00000INR)

Recommendation for CSP Based on the assessment of CSP technologies above, parabolic
trough technology is considered the only large-scale (greater than 50 MWe) CSP technology that is

2
 available for application in a commercially-financed power project now and in the near future (5
years). The remainder of this report thus focuses on parabolic trough technology.
Solar Plant Availability
Solar plants differ from conventional fossil and nuclear power plants in that they must harvest their
fuel via the solar field. Thus the availability of the solar field becomes a key indicator of potential
plant performance. suitable location in india is (rajasthan and Gujarat)

Collector technologies

 Euro trough collector (GLASS MIRROR WITH SILVER/COPPER COATING REFLECTER SURFACE)
OLDEST TECHNOLOGY

 Al core collector (ALUMINIUM SURFACE REFLECTOR) used by nextra energy resources(SEGS)

 Reflectech mirror film- ReflecTech® Mirror Film. These mirror panels and the supporting
aluminum space frame are lightweight, easy to manufacture, ship and deploy and significantly
reduce construction time and cost compared to those for a conventional glass-mirrored parabolic
trough system.

 3M collector films with gossamer trough frames

COLLECTOR PARAMETERS
s Collector transportation comments Suitablility COST COST EFFECT BOP Plants using
n
technolog PER PER/SQ IVE technology
o
y /SQM M OF COST
OF MOUNTI PER
MIRROR NG MW(in
(INR) STRUCT crores)
URE
1 Euro trough Difficult Old technology Not suitable 2115 1398.98 3.513 11.487 Mathania,
collector transportation Reflection through rajasthan,india
mirrors

2 Al core Easy transportation Latest technology suitable 2643.6 1258.651 3.901 11.009 SEGS(1,2,3,4,
collector Aluminium plates 5,6,7,8,9)
are used as
reflectors

3 Reflectech Easy Latest technology suitable 843.73 1300 2.143 12.857 SKYFUEL
mirror film transportation Available in rolls (SKYTROUGH)
(94% reflection)
SUPPORT
FRAMES ARE
SUPPLIED BY
SKYFUEL INC
4 3M collector Available in india Latest technology Suitable but 940.00 1300(mounti 2.240 12.760 SOLAR ONE
films (94% reflection) 3M doesn’t ng structures
supply to be SUPPORT
components outsourced FRAMES
from ARE SUPPLIED
GOSSAME BY GOSSAMER
R space SPACE FRAMES
frames)

NOTE: AREA DIMENSIONS : APPROXIMATELY 500000sqm TAKEN FOR 50MW

CORRESPONDANCE DETAILS

Sno company Correspondence Type of result

for communication
1 skyfuel Partnership in building E-MAIL NO RESPONSE
solar power plant

2 Nextra energy Partnership in building E-MAIL NO RESPONSE

resources solar power plant

3 Abengoa solar Partnership in building E-MAIL NO RESPONSE

solar power plant

4 acciona Partnership in building E-MAIL NO RESPONSE

solar power plant

5 Solar Partnership in building E-MAIL RESPONDED

millenium solar power plant TWICE

READY TO
TAKE
PARTNERSHIP

6 3M For polymer reflective E-MAIL RESPONDED

films& absorber
tubes,fliud carrying 3M supplies
tubes polymer
reflective films
only

LIST OF SOLAR COMPANIES MATCHED TO OUR REQUIREMENTS

NAME OF THE COMPANIES ADVANTAGES COLLECTOR
TECHNOLOGY
More no of power Aluminium core
plants(SEGS
I,II,III,IV,V,VI,VII,
VIII,IX)
Latest and cost The SkyTrough® uses
effective technology lightweight, glass-free,
slide-in reflective mirror
panels made with
ReflecTech® Mirror
Film. These mirror panels
and the supporting
aluminum space frame
are lightweight, easy to
manufacture, ship and
deploy and significantly
reduce construction time
and cost compared to
those for a conventional
glass-mirrored parabolic
trough system.
Worlds Parabolic mirror
concentrator
Largest
Solar power
plant
(more no of
partnerships in
india)
Nevada solar Parabolic mirrors
one(64MW)
worlds third largest
csp plant.
Cost effective utility eSolar designed the
scale csp power heliostats for deployment
plant(Patented in pre-fabricated
Heliostat Design) "heliostat sticks" that can
be installed easily with
minimal skilled labor.
Low wind profile design
allows fields of eSolar™
ADDRESS
www.nexteraenergyresources.com
United States
Phone
Main number: 561-691-7171
Procurement: 561-691-7827
News media inquiries: 888-867-3050
Write
NextEra Energy Resources
P.O. Box 14000
Juno Beach, FL 33408-0420
Canada
Phone
Main number: 905-335-4904
Write
NextEra Energy Canada, ULC
5500 N. Service Road, Suite 205
Burlington, ON  L7L 6W6
10701 Montgomery Blvd NE, Suite A
Albuquerque, NM 87111
Phone: 505.293.1023
Fax: 505.323.2747
18300 W. Hwy 72
Arvada, CO 80007
Phone: 303.330.0276
ww.skyfuel.com/#/OUR PRODUCTS/SKYTROUGH/
www.abengoasolar.com
 +34 913300669
www.acciona-na.com/About-Us/Our-Projects/U-S-/Nevada-
Solar-One
ACCIONA S.A.
Avda. de Europa 18
Parque Empresarial La Moraleja
28108 Alcobendas (MADRID)
Tel: +34 91 663 28 50 
Fax: +34 91 663 28 51
www.esolar.com/our_solution/
Corporate Office
eSolar Inc.
130 West Union Street
Pasadena, CA 91103
USA
 heliostats to be installed 877-ESOLAR7
faster than any toll-free
competitive CSP 626-685-1810
solutions tel
626-535-2701
fax

Andosal 1,2,3 power Skal-ET: improved Solar Millennium AG

plants(150 GWH per parabolic trough collector
plant) design Nägelsbachstraße 40
D-91052 Erlangen
Helio trough: highly GERMANY
efficient collector design
by solar millennium Tel: +49 (0) 9131 - 9409 - 0
group Fax: +49 (0) 9131 - 9409 - 111
Email: info@SolarMillennium.de
www.solarmillennium.de

SHORTLISTED SOLAR PLANTS FOR PARTNERSHIP IN BUILDING SOLAR PLANT

SNO COMPANY TECHNOLOGY

1 SKYFUEL INC reflectech mirror films, SKYTROUGH SOLAR
COLLECTORS SYSTEMS
2 NEXTRA ENERGY RESOURCES al core

3 3M POLYMER REFLECTIVE FILMS

Conclusion
India’s solar energy holds great promise. India must accelerate its investment in renewable
energy resources, specifically solar and wind energy. The U.S.-India Energy Dialogue,
which facilitates discussions on renewable energy and energy efficiency, can be a very
useful tool to spark investments in solar energy. This can lay the foundation for an energy
independent future – one in which the Government of India takes advantage of the vast
amounts of energy available from the Rajasthan Desert sun (instead of oil from the Arab
nations) to power its future energy needs. In addition, solar energy would not only create
millions of jobs, but also sustain India’s positive economic growth, help lift its massive
population out of poverty and combat climate change.