Modular solar systems for 24/7 scalable, flexible,affordable electricity
A successful transition to global energy interconnection as well as a low carbon future requires that power be generated all the time, 24/7, not just when the sun is shining, or the wind is blowing, or when there is sufficient biofuel.But few clean emissions power technologies can operate as baseload plants 24/7.Concentrated solar power (CSP) can because it can store thermal energy at 10-20% of the cost of batteries 1 and can then burn fuel when its solar resource is exhausted.However, many see first generation CSP as too costly, complex, risky, and economical only at utility scale.By mimicking the all-factory, standardized, modular approach of wind and PV, next generation concentrated solar power (CSP) with low-cost dry thermal storage (<5% the cost of batteries) may give CSP the potential to fulfill on its baseload promise.A major Engineering and Cost Feasibility Study 2 funded by the US Department of Energy shows that through mass production, modular CSP systems with dry thermal storage (e.g., firebrick or checker brick) can compete against all past and current forms of baseload power generation by tapping the power of mass production.This research paper reports on that study and presents a breakthrough power generation based on the Brayton Power Tower System called 247Solar PlantsTM.Critical heat transfer innovations broke through CSPs traditional complexity and cost barriers to enable high-temperature,solar-heated air to displace water/steam as the driving fluid for jet-engine-like gas turbines.Design, construction, and operation are all simplified with greatly reduced costs and increased deployment speeds.Most of the system components can be made in-country by existing manufacturers.Most of the components are proven and off-the-shelf.The system stabilizes grids by responding nearly instantly, similar to battery response time, to changing power demands and voltage fluctuations.The redundancy of multiple modules in a single project increases capacity factors,operational flexibility, and project reliability.The DOE Study shows that such a system may be able to achieve the two key DOE targets included:1) a capacity factor of at least 75%, of which >85% would be solar with <15% from fuels;and LCOEs 3 <9(c)/kWh.Indeed, LCOEs under 6(c)/kWh may be possible with further development and widespread deployment.
24/7 Solar Baseload solar Distributed solar Brayton power towers CSP Modular CSP Thermal storage TES Volumetric receiver Gas turbines Air turbines Grid stabilization Distributed power Micro-grids
Bruce Norman Anderson
247Solar Inc., 436 Utterback Store Rd, Great Falls, VA 22066 USA
国际会议
法国巴黎
英文
321-329
2019-03-13（万方平台首次上网日期，不代表论文的发表时间）