Investigation and assessment of a novel solar-driven integrated energy system

In this paper, a novel integrated energy system driven by solar power is proposed. A concentrated solar trough system is utilized in integration with organic Rankine cycle, absorption cooling system, desalination unit and electrolyzer, for the purpose of polygeneration. The proposed system produces hydrogen, cooling, fresh water, and domestic hot water along with electric power production. The system is analyzed thermodynamically, and its overall performance is assessed through energy and exergy efficiencies. The effects of varying several operating parameters and conditions on the performance are investigated through parametric studies. The cost rate is estimated at different operating points. The overall thermoeconomic multi-objective optimization study shows two extremes of 39% and 21.7% as maximum and minimum overall exergy efficiencies, respectively, as achieved at cost rate of 309.56 $/h and 241.7 $/h, for each corresponding case, respectively.