IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/gam/jeners/v16y2023i3p1190-d1043263.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Techno-Economic Evaluation of Future Thermionic Generators for Small-Scale Concentrated Solar Power Systems

Author

Listed:
  • Alessandro Bellucci

    (Istituto di Struttura della Materia (ISM)—Sez. Montelibretti, DiaTHEMA Laboratory, Consiglio Nazionale delle Ricerche, Via Salaria km 29.300, 00015 Monterotondo, Italy)

  • Gianluca Caposciutti

    (Dipartimento di Ingegneria dell’Energia, dei Sistemi, del Territorio e delle Costruzioni (D.E.S.Te.C.), Università di Pisa, Largo Lucio Lazzarino snc, 56122 Pisa, Italy)

  • Marco Antonelli

    (Dipartimento di Ingegneria dell’Energia, dei Sistemi, del Territorio e delle Costruzioni (D.E.S.Te.C.), Università di Pisa, Largo Lucio Lazzarino snc, 56122 Pisa, Italy)

  • Daniele Maria Trucchi

    (Istituto di Struttura della Materia (ISM)—Sez. Montelibretti, DiaTHEMA Laboratory, Consiglio Nazionale delle Ricerche, Via Salaria km 29.300, 00015 Monterotondo, Italy)

Abstract

Small-size concentrated solar power (CSP) plants are presently not diffused due to a too-high levelized cost of electricity (LCoE), contrarily to CSP plants with capacity >100 MW, which provide LCoE < 20 cEUR/kWh. The integration of solid-state converters within CSP plants can enhance the scalability and economic competitiveness of the whole technology, especially at smaller scales, since the conversion efficiency of solid-state converters weakly depends on the size. Here a system with a high-temperature thermionic energy converter (TEC), together with an optical concentrator designed to be cheap even providing high concentration ratios, is proposed to improve the cost-effectiveness of CSP plants, thus achieving conditions for economic sustainability and market competitiveness. This is possible since TEC can act as a conversion topping cycle, directly producing electricity with a possible conversion efficiency of 24.8% estimated by applying realistic conditions and providing useful thermal flows to a secondary thermal stage. Under established technical specifications for the development of optical concentrator and TEC and according to reasonable economic assumptions, the overall plant conversion efficiency is estimated to be 35.5%, with LCoE of 6.9 cEUR/kW and considering the possibility of an 8 h storage tank for a 1 MW input solar energy system. The calculated projected value is an extremely competitive value compared with other available renewable energy technologies at small capacity scales and opens the path for accelerating the deployment of technological efforts to demonstrate the proposed solution.

Suggested Citation

  • Alessandro Bellucci & Gianluca Caposciutti & Marco Antonelli & Daniele Maria Trucchi, 2023. "Techno-Economic Evaluation of Future Thermionic Generators for Small-Scale Concentrated Solar Power Systems," Energies, MDPI, vol. 16(3), pages 1-14, January.
    • Handle: RePEc:gam:jeners:v:16:y:2023:i:3:p:1190-:d:1043263
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/1996-1073/16/3/1190/pdf
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/1996-1073/16/3/1190/
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Aseri, Tarun Kumar & Sharma, Chandan & Kandpal, Tara C., 2021. "Estimation of capital costs and techno-economic appraisal of parabolic trough solar collector and solar power tower based CSP plants in India for different condenser cooling options," Renewable Energy, Elsevier, vol. 178(C), pages 344-362.
    2. El Hamdani, Fayrouz & Vaudreuil, Sébastien & Abderafi, Souad & Bounahmidi, Tijani, 2021. "Determination of design parameters to minimize LCOE, for a 1 MWe CSP plant in different sites," Renewable Energy, Elsevier, vol. 169(C), pages 1013-1025.
    3. Li-Dong Zhao & Shih-Han Lo & Yongsheng Zhang & Hui Sun & Gangjian Tan & Ctirad Uher & C. Wolverton & Vinayak P. Dravid & Mercouri G. Kanatzidis, 2014. "Ultralow thermal conductivity and high thermoelectric figure of merit in SnSe crystals," Nature, Nature, vol. 508(7496), pages 373-377, April.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    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. Rui Liu & Guangkun Ren & Xing Tan & Yuanhua Lin & Cewen Nan, 2016. "Enhanced Thermoelectric Properties of Cu 3 SbSe 3 -Based Composites with Inclusion Phases," Energies, MDPI, vol. 9(10), pages 1-7, October.
    2. Yihua Zhang & Guyang Peng & Shuankui Li & Haijun Wu & Kaidong Chen & Jiandong Wang & Zhihao Zhao & Tu Lyu & Yuan Yu & Chaohua Zhang & Yang Zhang & Chuansheng Ma & Shengwu Guo & Xiangdong Ding & Jun Su, 2024. "Phase interface engineering enables state-of-the-art half-Heusler thermoelectrics," Nature Communications, Nature, vol. 15(1), pages 1-12, December.
    3. Teerapath Limboonruang & Muyiwa Oyinlola & Dani Harmanto & Pracha Bunyawanichakul & Nittalin Phunapai, 2023. "Optimizing Solar Parabolic Trough Receivers with External Fins: An Experimental Study on Enhancing Heat Transfer and Thermal Efficiency," Energies, MDPI, vol. 16(18), pages 1-22, September.
    4. Hongkun Lv & Guoneng Li & Youqu Zheng & Jiangen Hu & Jian Li, 2018. "Compact Water-Cooled Thermoelectric Generator (TEG) Based on a Portable Gas Stove," Energies, MDPI, vol. 11(9), pages 1-19, August.
    5. Zhu, Yuxiao & Newbrook, Daniel W. & Dai, Peng & de Groot, C.H. Kees & Huang, Ruomeng, 2022. "Artificial neural network enabled accurate geometrical design and optimisation of thermoelectric generator," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 305(C).
    6. Zhu, Lei & Li, Huaqi & Chen, Sen & Tian, Xiaoyan & Kang, Xiaoya & Jiang, Xinbiao & Qiu, Suizheng, 2020. "Optimization analysis of a segmented thermoelectric generator based on genetic algorithm," Renewable Energy, Elsevier, vol. 156(C), pages 710-718.
    7. Fang, Juan & Dong, Hao & Huo, Hailong & Yi, Xiaoping & Wen, Zhi & Liu, Qibin & Liu, Xunliang, 2023. "Thermodynamic performance of solar full-spectrum electricity generation system integrating photovoltaic cell with thermally-regenerative ammonia battery," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 332(C).
    8. Yin, Ershuai & Li, Qiang & Xuan, Yimin, 2018. "A novel optimal design method for concentration spectrum splitting photovoltaic–thermoelectric hybrid system," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 163(C), pages 519-532.
    9. Li, Guoneng & Fan, Yiqi & Li, Qiangsheng & Zheng, Youqu & Zhao, Dan & Wang, Shifeng & Dong, Sijie & Guo, Wenwen & Tang, Yuanjun, 2025. "A review on micro combustion powered thermoelectric generator: History, state-of-the-art and challenges to commercialization," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 207(C).
    10. Svyatoslav Yatsyshyn & Oleksandra Hotra & Pylyp Skoropad & Tetiana Bubela & Mykola Mykyichuk & Orest Kochan & Oksana Boyko, 2023. "Investigating Thermoelectric Batteries Based on Nanostructured Materials," Energies, MDPI, vol. 16(9), pages 1-11, May.
    11. Dahlioui, Dounia & El Hamdani, Fayrouz & Djdiaa, Abdelali & Martínez López, Teodoro & Bouzekri, Hicham, 2023. "Assessment of dry and wet cleaning of aluminum mirrors toward water consumption reduction," Renewable Energy, Elsevier, vol. 205(C), pages 248-255.
    12. Zhang, Shunqi & Liu, Ming & Zhao, Yongliang & Zhang, Kezhen & Liu, Jiping & Yan, Junjie, 2022. "Thermodynamic analysis on a novel bypass steam recovery system for parabolic trough concentrated solar power plants during start-up processes," Renewable Energy, Elsevier, vol. 198(C), pages 973-983.
    13. Fitriani, & Ovik, R. & Long, B.D. & Barma, M.C. & Riaz, M. & Sabri, M.F.M. & Said, S.M. & Saidur, R., 2016. "A review on nanostructures of high-temperature thermoelectric materials for waste heat recovery," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 64(C), pages 635-659.
    14. Wang, Xue & Wang, Hongchao & Su, Wenbin & Mehmood, Fahad & Zhai, Jinze & Wang, Teng & Chen, Tingting & Wang, Chunlei, 2019. "Geometric structural design for lead tellurium thermoelectric power generation application," Renewable Energy, Elsevier, vol. 141(C), pages 88-95.
    15. Li, Guoneng & Zheng, Youqu & Hu, Jiangen & Guo, Wenwen, 2019. "Experiments and a simplified theoretical model for a water-cooled, stove-powered thermoelectric generator," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 185(C), pages 437-448.
    16. Alberto Giaconia & Anna Chiara Tizzoni & Salvatore Sau & Natale Corsaro & Emiliana Mansi & Annarita Spadoni & Tiziano Delise, 2021. "Assessment and Perspectives of Heat Transfer Fluids for CSP Applications," Energies, MDPI, vol. 14(22), pages 1-25, November.
    17. Eom, Yoomin & Wijethunge, Dimuthu & Park, Hwanjoo & Park, Sang Hyun & Kim, Woochul, 2017. "Flexible thermoelectric power generation system based on rigid inorganic bulk materials," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 206(C), pages 649-656.
    18. Shen, Zu-Guo & Liu, Xun & Chen, Shuai & Wu, Shuang-Ying & Xiao, Lan & Chen, Zu-Xiang, 2018. "Theoretical analysis on a segmented annular thermoelectric generator," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 157(C), pages 297-313.
    19. Lisa Gobio-Thomas & Mohamed Darwish & Antonio Rovira & Ruben Abbas & Magdalena Barnetche & Juan Pedro Solano & Albert Torres & Krzysztof Naplocha & Peter Kew & Valentina Stojceska, 2025. "A Comprehensive Assessment of the Economic Performance of an Innovative Solar Thermal System: A Case Study," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 17(2), pages 1-17, January.
    20. Kevin Bethke & Virgil Andrei & Klaus Rademann, 2016. "Decreasing the Effective Thermal Conductivity in Glass Supported Thermoelectric Layers," PLOS ONE, Public Library of Science, vol. 11(3), pages 1-19, March.

    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:gam:jeners:v:16:y:2023:i:3:p:1190-:d:1043263. 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: MDPI Indexing Manager (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://www.mdpi.com .

    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.