Assessment of Existing Photovoltaic System with Cooling and Cleaning System: Case Study at Al-Khobar City

Nader, Nader D.; Al‐Kouz, Wael; Al‐Dahidi, Sameer

doi:10.3390/pr8010009

Cited by 22 publications

(12 citation statements)

References 17 publications

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“…Additionally, for the specific application in Saudi Arabia in general, but Al Khobar in particular, the enclosed trough with saltwater condenser suffers much less from sand, dust, humidity, salt and extreme temperatures than PV. PV in Saudi Arabia in general and Al Khobar in particular dramatically suffer from the above issues, [47][48][49] that are preventing the uptake of this technology. The panels collect much less solar energy, being quickly covered by a layer of dust, that is converted to less electricity also because of the high temperature.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Validation of SAM Modeling of Concentrated Solar Power Plants

2020

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The paper proposes the validation of the latest System Advisor Model (SAM) vs. the experimental data for concentrated solar power energy facilities. Both parabolic trough, and solar tower, are considered, with and without thermal energy storage. The 250 MW parabolic trough facilities of Genesis, Mojave, and Solana, and the 110 MW solar tower facility of Crescent Dunes, all in the United States South-West, are modeled. The computed monthly average capacity factors for the average weather year are compared with the experimental data measured since the start of the operation of the facilities. While much higher sampling frequencies are needed for proper validation, as monthly averaging dramatically filters out differences between experiments and simulations, computational results are relatively close to measured values for the parabolic trough, and very far from for solar tower systems. The thermal energy storage is also introducing additional inaccuracies. It is concluded that the code needs further development, especially for the solar field and receiver of the solar tower modules, and the thermal energy storage. Validation of models and sub-models vs. high-frequency data collected on existing facilities, for both energy production, power plant parameters, and weather conditions, is a necessary step before using the code for designing novel facilities. National Electricity Market data tell us that even installed capacity of 18.1 GW sometimes is not enough to deliver 0.2 GW to the grid in cases, for example, of low wind after sunset), the coupling of concentrating solar power with molten salt thermal energy storage is extremely attractive, as it may produce fully dispatchable energy.While the concentrating solar power solar tower coupled with thermal energy storage has so far performed badly in the real world, the concentrating solar power parabolic trough with thermal energy storage is already delivering good performances, [8][9][10][11][12], even if still less than the predictions. Solar photovoltaic works with annual average ε about 0.27-0.29, but with much larger than the capacity factor high-frequency standard deviations, for coefficients of variability in excess of unity [15]. While in the virtual reality of model computations concentrating solar power with thermal energy storage may achieve much larger and more uniform ε, with average ε well in excess of 0.5, also addressing the issues of lack of production during night times, and drastically reduced production with clouds, with dramatically reduced standard deviations, the best real-world experience has so far delivered an annual average ε of about 0.36 (Solana). By contrast with photovoltaic, concentrating solar power, especially the solar tower, suffers from cloud coverage, and this may considerably affect the accuracy of the models.As concluded in [8][9][10][11][12], the concentrating solar power parabolic trough has the potential, once a satisfactory design will be industrialized, to deliver the same or better than photovoltaic costs of electricity with...

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Validation of SAM Modeling of Concentrated Solar Power Plants

2020

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“…Additionally, for the specific application in Saudi Arabia in general, but Al Khobar in particular, enclosed trough with once trough saltwater condenser suffer much less of sand, dust, humidity, salt, and extreme temperatures than PV. PV in Saudi Arabia in general and Al Khobar in particular dramatically suffer from the many issues, [16], [17], [18], that are preventing their uptake.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

The energy future of Saudi Arabia

et al. 2020

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In a recent publication, North European experts argue that “Saudi Arabia can achieve a 100% renewable energy power system by 2040 with a power sector dominated by PV single-axis tracking and battery storage”. They also say “Battery storage contributed up to 30% of the total electricity demand in 2040 and the contribution increases to 48% by 2050”. Based on considerations specific to the geography, climate conditions, and resources of Saudi Arabia, it is explained as batteries and photovoltaic solar panels are not the best choice for the country's energy sector. To cover all the total primary energy supply of Saudi Arabia by solar photovoltaic, plus battery storage to compensate for the sun's energy intermittency, unpredictability, and seasonal variability, is impracticable and inconvenient, for both the economy and the environment. Better environment and economy may be achieved by further valorizing the fossil fuel resources, through the construction of other high-efficiency plants such as the combined cycle gas turbine plants of Qurayyah, development of novel technologies for the production of clean fuels and clean electricity, including oxyfuel combustion and carbon capture and storage. Construction of nuclear power plants may also be more beneficial to the economy and the environment than photovoltaic and batteries. Regarding solar energy, enclosed trough solar thermal power systems developed along the coast have much better perspectives than solar photovoltaic, as embedded thermal energy storage is a better approach than battery storage. Further, a centralized power plant works better than distributed rooftop photovoltaic installations covered by dust and sand, rusted or cracked. Finally, pumped hydro energy storage along the coast may also have better perspectives than battery storage.

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“…The usage of solar energy such as; solar power would create new job opportunities, and provide access to energy to many people who don't have a proper energy supply today. Also, Solar energy has proved to be a beneficial source on the financial side besides the benefit to the environment [5]. Concentrated solar power (CSP) is one of the solar energy methods that absorbed the solar heat and then converted it to electricity.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Design of a 100 MW Concentrated Solar Power Plant Parabolic Trough in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia

2021

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The increase in energy demand and the awareness of renewable energy has been raised due to environmental and climate change and the need to establish sustainable energy development. Using fossil fuels has created a critical situation such as; climate change, air pollution, and emission of greenhouse gases also, the resources are in limited supply. The infinite source of energy such as; the sun can provide an effective and sustainable energy supply. Riyadh city in Saudi Arabia is one of the areas that receive a high quantity of direct solar radiation. An average direct normal irradiance (DNI) for the central region is equal to 2018 kWh/m2/year. This paper shows the design and the performance analysis of 100 MW Concentrated Solar Power (CSP) parabolic trough (PT) power plants with thermal energy storage (TES) for use in Riyadh city. The performance of this design plant is analyzed by using the system advisor model (SAM). Based on the analysis carried out for this design, the capacity factor is equal to 45.3% with an annual energy generation which is equal to 396, 801, 792 kWh. By varying two main parameters, the solar field size and the full load hours of TES to get the optimal design of this plant is done. Based on the simulation result, the proposed design of 100 MW parabolic trough at 1, 150, 000 m2 solar field size and 7 h TES gives the lowest Levelized Cost of Electricity (LCOE) with an assumed lifespan of the plant of 25 years.

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Assessment of Existing Photovoltaic System with Cooling and Cleaning System: Case Study at Al-Khobar City

Cited by 22 publications

References 17 publications

Validation of SAM Modeling of Concentrated Solar Power Plants

Validation of SAM Modeling of Concentrated Solar Power Plants

The energy future of Saudi Arabia

Design of a 100 MW Concentrated Solar Power Plant Parabolic Trough in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia

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