Exergetic and environmental life cycle assessment analysis of concentrated solar power plants

The study addresses an exergetic analysis combined with a Life Cycle Assessment of concentrated solar power (CSP) plants. This work is focused on 50 MW parabolic-trough plants; its main objectives are: 1) to assess the environmental impact and cost, in terms of exergy for the entire life cycle of the plant; 2) to find out the weak points of the process; and 3) to verify whether solar power plants have the potential of reducing environmental pollution and the cost of electricity generation. The economic evaluation is presented through a thermoeconomic analysis conducted using the specific exergy cost (SPECO) approach. The main findings of the study are that the solar field is the component with the most important contribution towards environmental impact (79%). Out of the material used in the construction of the CSP plants, the one with the highest impact is steel followed by molten salt and synthetic oil. The “Human Health” damage category presents the highest impact (69%), followed by “Resource” damage category (24%) and “Ecosystem Quality” damage category (7%). The highest exergy demand lies with the steel manufacturing (47% out of the total demand). The solar field presents the largest value of cost rate, where the boiler is a component with the highest cost rate among the power cycle components followed by the condenser.