IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/eee/rensus/v45y2015icp698-709.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Challenges and opportunities for Solar Tower technology in India

Author

Listed:
  • Srilakshmi, Gopalakrishnan
  • Venkatesh, V.
  • Thirumalai, N.C.
  • Suresh, N.S.

Abstract

Solar Tower technology has gained considerable momentum over the past decade. Unlike the parabolic trough, Solar Tower has a lot of variants in terms of type of receivers, working fluids, power cycles, size of heliostats, etc. Most of the literature available on this technology does not address in great depths, details of various parameters associated with tower technology. A detailed examination of plant parameters is required in order to perform a potential assessment, design basis or feasibility analysis. This paper aims to assess the principal parameters of existing plants, namely, solar to electric conversion efficiency, mirror and land area per MWe of equivalent capacity, packing density, field layout configuration, receiver size, tower height and gross costs of plants, wherever data is available. Based on this global review of existing plants, it is observed that, the annual solar to electric conversion efficiencies has an average value of 16% and the packing density has an average value of about 20%. Since most of the existing plants have been constructed for demonstration purposes, the true potential of this technology has not yet been realised. Using this assessment as a basis, the technical, financial and policy drivers and barriers for adopting tower technology in India are discussed. It is seen that based on indigenisation prospects, tower technology with external cylindrical or cavity receivers with storage could be adopted. The role and significance of this technology is brought out in the context of the Jawaharlal Nehru National Solar Mission (JNNSM) in order to achieve grid-connected solar power. It is estimated that around 1800MW of grid connected Solar Tower plants could come up under this mission by 2022.

Suggested Citation

  • Srilakshmi, Gopalakrishnan & Venkatesh, V. & Thirumalai, N.C. & Suresh, N.S., 2015. "Challenges and opportunities for Solar Tower technology in India," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 45(C), pages 698-709.
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:rensus:v:45:y:2015:i:c:p:698-709
    DOI: 10.1016/j.rser.2015.02.016
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1364032115001045
    Download Restriction: Full text for ScienceDirect subscribers only
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1016/j.rser.2015.02.016?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    As the access to this document is restricted, you may want to search for a different version of it.

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Siva Reddy, V. & Kaushik, S.C. & Ranjan, K.R. & Tyagi, S.K., 2013. "State-of-the-art of solar thermal power plants—A review," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 27(C), pages 258-273.
    2. Zhang, H.L. & Baeyens, J. & Degrève, J. & Cacères, G., 2013. "Concentrated solar power plants: Review and design methodology," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 22(C), pages 466-481.
    3. Xu, Ershu & Yu, Qiang & Wang, Zhifeng & Yang, Chenyao, 2011. "Modeling and simulation of 1 MW DAHAN solar thermal power tower plant," Renewable Energy, Elsevier, vol. 36(2), pages 848-857.
    4. Khare, Vikas & Nema, Savita & Baredar, Prashant, 2013. "Status of solar wind renewable energy in India," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 27(C), pages 1-10.
    5. Mahtta, Richa & Joshi, P.K. & Jindal, Alok Kumar, 2014. "Solar power potential mapping in India using remote sensing inputs and environmental parameters," Renewable Energy, Elsevier, vol. 71(C), pages 255-262.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Okoroigwe, Edmund & Madhlopa, Amos, 2016. "An integrated combined cycle system driven by a solar tower: A review," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 57(C), pages 337-350.
    2. Awan, Ahmed Bilal & Zubair, Muhammad & Chandra Mouli, Kotturu V.V., 2020. "Design, optimization and performance comparison of solar tower and photovoltaic power plants," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 199(C).
    3. Ogunmodimu, Olumide & Okoroigwe, Edmund C., 2018. "Concentrating solar power technologies for solar thermal grid electricity in Nigeria: A review," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 90(C), pages 104-119.
    4. Bijarniya, Jay Prakash & Sudhakar, K. & Baredar, Prashant, 2016. "Concentrated solar power technology in India: A review," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 63(C), pages 593-603.
    5. Moallemi, Enayat A. & Aye, Lu & Webb, John M. & de Haan, Fjalar J. & George, Biju A., 2017. "India's on-grid solar power development: Historical transitions, present status and future driving forces," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 69(C), pages 239-247.
    6. Kar, Sanjay Kumar & Sharma, Atul & Roy, Biswajit, 2016. "Solar energy market developments in India," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 62(C), pages 121-133.

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Mostafavi Tehrani, S. Saeed & Taylor, Robert A., 2016. "Off-design simulation and performance of molten salt cavity receivers in solar tower plants under realistic operational modes and control strategies," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 179(C), pages 698-715.
    2. Okoroigwe, Edmund & Madhlopa, Amos, 2016. "An integrated combined cycle system driven by a solar tower: A review," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 57(C), pages 337-350.
    3. Sharma, Chandan & Sharma, Ashish K. & Mullick, Subhash C. & Kandpal, Tara C., 2015. "Assessment of solar thermal power generation potential in India," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 42(C), pages 902-912.
    4. Punia Sindhu, Sonal & Nehra, Vijay & Luthra, Sunil, 2016. "Recognition and prioritization of challenges in growth of solar energy using analytical hierarchy process: Indian outlook," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 100(C), pages 332-348.
    5. Peiró, Gerard & Prieto, Cristina & Gasia, Jaume & Jové, Aleix & Miró, Laia & Cabeza, Luisa F., 2018. "Two-tank molten salts thermal energy storage system for solar power plants at pilot plant scale: Lessons learnt and recommendations for its design, start-up and operation," Renewable Energy, Elsevier, vol. 121(C), pages 236-248.
    6. Tehrani, S. Saeed Mostafavi & Taylor, Robert A. & Saberi, Pouya & Diarce, Gonzalo, 2016. "Design and feasibility of high temperature shell and tube latent heat thermal energy storage system for solar thermal power plants," Renewable Energy, Elsevier, vol. 96(PA), pages 120-136.
    7. Peiró, Gerard & Gasia, Jaume & Miró, Laia & Prieto, Cristina & Cabeza, Luisa F., 2016. "Experimental analysis of charging and discharging processes, with parallel and counter flow arrangements, in a molten salts high temperature pilot plant scale setup," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 178(C), pages 394-403.
    8. Xu, Xinhai & Vignarooban, K. & Xu, Ben & Hsu, K. & Kannan, A.M., 2016. "Prospects and problems of concentrating solar power technologies for power generation in the desert regions," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 53(C), pages 1106-1131.
    9. Li, Qing & Bai, Fengwu & Yang, Bei & Wang, Zhifeng & El Hefni, Baligh & Liu, Sijie & Kubo, Syuichi & Kiriki, Hiroaki & Han, Mingxu, 2016. "Dynamic simulation and experimental validation of an open air receiver and a thermal energy storage system for solar thermal power plant," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 178(C), pages 281-293.
    10. Mihoub, Sofiane & Chermiti, Ali & Beltagy, Hani, 2017. "Methodology of determining the optimum performances of future concentrating solar thermal power plants in Algeria," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 122(C), pages 801-810.
    11. Pal, Pikaso & Mukherjee, V., 2021. "Off-grid solar photovoltaic/hydrogen fuel cell system for renewable energy generation: An investigation based on techno-economic feasibility assessment for the application of end-user load demand in N," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 149(C).
    12. Ogunmodimu, Olumide & Okoroigwe, Edmund C., 2018. "Concentrating solar power technologies for solar thermal grid electricity in Nigeria: A review," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 90(C), pages 104-119.
    13. Arancibia-Bulnes, Camilo A. & Peña-Cruz, Manuel I. & Mutuberría, Amaia & Díaz-Uribe, Rufino & Sánchez-González, Marcelino, 2017. "A survey of methods for the evaluation of reflective solar concentrator optics," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 69(C), pages 673-684.
    14. Dunham, Marc T. & Iverson, Brian D., 2014. "High-efficiency thermodynamic power cycles for concentrated solar power systems," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 30(C), pages 758-770.
    15. Joseph Kiesecker & Sharon Baruch-Mordo & Mike Heiner & Dhaval Negandhi & James Oakleaf & Christina Kennedy & Pareexit Chauhan, 2019. "Renewable Energy and Land Use in India: A Vision to Facilitate Sustainable Development," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 12(1), pages 1-14, December.
    16. Sindhu, Sonal & Nehra, Vijay & Luthra, Sunil, 2017. "Solar energy deployment for sustainable future of India: Hybrid SWOC-AHP analysis," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 72(C), pages 1138-1151.
    17. Merchán, R.P. & Santos, M.J. & Medina, A. & Calvo Hernández, A., 2022. "High temperature central tower plants for concentrated solar power: 2021 overview," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 155(C).
    18. Hachicha, Ahmed Amine & Yousef, Bashria A.A. & Said, Zafar & Rodríguez, Ivette, 2019. "A review study on the modeling of high-temperature solar thermal collector systems," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 112(C), pages 280-298.
    19. Dowling, Alexander W. & Zheng, Tian & Zavala, Victor M., 2017. "Economic assessment of concentrated solar power technologies: A review," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 72(C), pages 1019-1032.
    20. Miguel J. Prieto & Juan Á. Martínez & Rogelio Peón & Lourdes Á. Barcia & Fernando Nuño, 2017. "On the Convenience of Using Simulation Models to Optimize the Control Strategy of Molten-Salt Heat Storage Systems in Solar Thermal Power Plants," Energies, MDPI, vol. 10(7), pages 1-17, July.

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:eee:rensus:v:45:y:2015:i:c:p:698-709. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Catherine Liu (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.elsevier.com/wps/find/journaldescription.cws_home/600126/description#description .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.