Comparison of solar radiation data sources for design and performance appraisal of CSP systems in India

ABSTRACT

The choice of a solar radiation data source is expected to have a significant impact on the predicted performance of a concentrating solar power (CSP) system and consequently on its technical and financial feasibility. In the present study, an attempt has been made to analyse the effect of choice of various solar radiation data sources on the predicted performance of a CSP system at 13 different locations in 5 different climatic zones of India. It was observed that there is significant variation in the amount of annual electricity output obtained for various locations using different solar radiation data sources resulting in variations in levelised cost of electricity. For a 50-MW parabolic trough-based CSP plant located in Jaisalmer, the estimated value of annual electricity output varies from 63 to 124 GWh. For a CSP plant based on the central tower receiver technology, the corresponding range is from 106 to 145 GWh.

KEYWORDS:

• Concentrated solar power
• solar radiation data source
• performance prediction
• system advisor model

Acknowledgements

Chandan Sharma acknowledges the encouragement provided by the Department of Technical Education, Government of State of Rajasthan (India), Government Engineering College, Ajmer and the Quality Improvement Program at Indian Institute of Technology Delhi.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.