Session: 12-02: Process Heat for Industrial Decarbonization

Paper Number: 169335

169335 - Solar Thermal Energy Planner (Step 1): A New Web-Based Decision Support Tool for Solar+storage Systems for Industrial Energy Demands 

Abstract: 

Solar thermal technologies are a promising technology to supply low-cost thermal energy to industrial processes, but there are often significant barriers to entry to industrial owners considering these technologies for their energy demands. To overcome this barrier and convey economic value to customers, the National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) and Sandia National Laboratory developed Solar Thermal Energy Planner (STEP 1), a new web-based decision support tool for solar industrial process heat systems. STEP 1 asks users information about their location, available land, process temperature, and load profile in a variety of forms to meet the user where they are in terms of technical expertise; the goal being to make the tool approachable to someone with neither solar thermal nor coding experience (enabled by the web user interface). For example, users can find and draw their available area using a Google Maps interface. STEP 1 also provides different options for defining load profile such as a monthly fuel bill or steam pressure and flow rate coupled with a shift schedule builder. After matching process temperature and media to an appropriate solar thermal technology, STEP 1 leverages the detailed physics-based models of various solar thermal technologies (e.g., flat plate collectors, parabolic troughs, linear Fresnel, and molten salt tower) built in NREL’s System Advisory Model (SAM) to produce nominal annual thermal production profiles for a given industrial facility. Custom modules help define the necessary SAM parameters for users such as (if applicable) optimal tower height and receiver dimensions based on pre-processed optimization studies or heat transfer media selection based on multi-factor selection criteria. Then, STEP 1 uses a mixed-integer linear program to determine the cost-optimal size and dispatch the solar+storage system to meet the user’s load profile based on the solar resource (PV and/or solar thermal), technology and existing fuel costs, capacity factor targets, electricity rates (if applicable), and land availability; the mixed-integer linear program is a modified version of NREL’s REopt code base. Once the optimal mix of solar technologies (PV and/or solar thermal), storage durations, and supplemental fuel consumption is determined, the tool presents the user with key technoeconomic data. Key results include the levelized cost of heat and net present value of the new combined solar+storage system (including supplemental fuel purchases) compared to business-as-usual (e.g., fully depreciated natural gas boiler). Industrial facility owners can then make informed decisions based on this quick and free analysis on whether contacting a technology provider or doing more detailed analysis is worth it. STEP 1 means more stakeholders will have access to critical information about the viability of solar thermal solutions for industrial energy demands, increasing deployment while reducing energy costs where possible. STEP 1 will be hosted by NREL and publicly available in Spring 2025.

Presenting Author: Jeffrey Gifford National Renewable Energy Laboratory

Presenting Author Biography: Jeffrey Gifford is a Researcher at the National Renewable Energy Laboratory focusing on thermal energy storage research and development, answering key questions about long-duration, particle-based thermal energy storage systems using a multi-method approaches, including computational fluid dynamics, dynamic integrated system modeling, and mixed-integer linear programming for design and dispatch optimization. He has also worked on modeling solar thermochemical receivers and hydrogen electrolysis. He also serves as the Investor Confidence & Finance Tiger Team lead for the Long-Duration Energy Storage National Consortium. His overall research interest is energy storage systems for industrial heat and grid electricity applications. He received his PhD of Advanced Energy Systems from the Colorado School of Mines in May 2023.