Session: 06-01: CSP Optical Systems

Paper Number: 156382

156382 - Development and Demonstration of a Low Cost Optical Concentrator 

Abstract: 

Economical clean energy production and storage technologies enable a path to the reduction of reliance on fossil fuels. While solar photovoltaic (PV) and wind energy are viable options for variable renewable energy (VRE), wind and PV on their own are not well suited for baseload power production and require additional hardware for energy storage. Energy storage for VRE technologies currently relies on short term battery storage or additional equipment such as a heat pump and heat engine for long duration storage. Concentrating Solar Power (CSP) provides a pathway for better energy storage capabilities with minimal changes to the overall plant design. Integration of energy storage for CSP systems can be done with additional and thermal media with minimal alterations to the system hardware or operating characteristics. Long duration storage additionally enables the system to be utilized for more baseload capacity, even during times of low solar irradiance.

While CSP offers a promising avenue for clean energy production and storage, the technology does not exist without drawbacks. One major factor that pushes PV to be more widely used than CSP is the Levelized Cost of Energy (LCOE). The LCOE for large scale, more than 100 MW, PV is around 0.03 US$/kWh which is contrasted by the 0.06US$/kWh for CSP. Other VREs such as wind also have a lower LCOE than CSP at around 0.04 US$/kWh. The first step in reducing the LCOE of CSP is to decrease the upfront capital costs of the system. To do this, the team at Southwest Research Institute and Idealab have developed a novel design that utilizes low-cost building materials as the base for the optical systems with the target of reducing the cost to below $50/m². This paper outlines the development, fabrication, and demonstration of a concrete assembly that could be used as the base for each of the optical concentrators in a CSP array. The design features two concrete pieces, a base and central carrier, that are separated by polymer balls. This allows the two concrete parts to act as a slew bearing and track the azimuth angle, while an additional top metalic plate tracks the zenith angle of the sun. The use of low-cost materials such as concrete, recycled and virgin polymers, and aluminum as well as low cost manufacturing techniques minimizes the total cost of each optical system. With further development of the system, and economies of scale, the cost per unit area is on track to competing with current VRE technologies.

Presenting Author: Joshua Just Southwest Research Institute

Presenting Author Biography: Joshua Just is a Research Engineer in the Machinery Department at Southwest Research Institute in San Antonio, TX. Mr. Just holds a B.S. in Mechanical Engineering from Texas A&M University. During his time in the Rotating Machinery Development section, Mr. Just has worked on the design and development of rotating machinery components and their systems, commissioning of rotating equipment and their peripherals, and testing of mechanical systems. Mr. Just’s areas of focus have included rotordynamic analyses, high speed balancing, mechanical component design, modal analysis, and flow loop design.