Solar collector field design and viability analysis of stand-alone parabolic trough power plants for Indian conditions

The parabolic trough collector is one of the most proven and commercial concentrating solar power (CSP) technologies. The implementation of parabolic trough in large scale power plants is an effective solar energy option in an arid and semi-arid region. In this article, analysis of solar parabolic trough collector field for power generation is carried out using different working fluids like oil and water. The analysis of collector field for power generation is carried out based on the various geometric parameters (rim angle, collector aperture); collector configurations (spacing distance, shading distance, land area) and solar radiation. The land area required for different plant operating hours and insolation conditions are analyzed. The optimum configuration of the collector field is found as 6 m aperture, rim angle (Ψrim) = 65° with spacing distance between the collector rows equivalent to shading distance after 2 h of sunrise at δ = 0° and plant operates between 1 h after sunrise and before sunset. Techno-economic feasibility analysis of solar trough power plant is carried out for 58 locations in India. The annual power generation capacities of solar trough power plant are estimated for various locations such as eastern (14), western (18), northern (15) and southern (11) regions of India. The levelised costs of electricity generation of stand-alone solar parabolic trough power plant are estimated with oil and water as working fluids and it is found that Rs. 11.00 (¢ 24) and Rs. 11.84 (¢ 26) for oil and DSG respectively for Jodhpur.

► The analysis of trough collector field for power generation.
► Estimation of ground utilization factor for different plant locations.
► Prediction of annual power generation for different locations in India.
► Techno-economic analysis of solar trough power plant.
► Viability of solar parabolic trough power plant.