Solar chimney power plant performance in Iran

A solar chimney power plant (SCPP) is proposed to be built as the first national SCPP in central regions of Iran. Studies of DLR MED-CSP project show that Iran can be a part of the Mediterranean solar power generation chain in 2050 to provide electrical power demand of Europe. High direct solar radiation and available desert lands in Iran are factors to encourage the full development of solar power plants like solar chimney power plants for the thermal and electrical productions of energy for various uses. The interested region is the central region of Iran where solar radiation and global insolation are much better than other areas. However, to evaluate SCPP performance and power generation throughout Iran, 12 different areas across the country are considered. The obtained results clear that solar chimney power plants can produce from 10 to 28 MWh/month of electrical power. This power production is sufficient for the needs of the isolated areas and can even used to feed the grid.