NC Thirumalai

This work proposes a method which can provide a rational area estimate of a PV plant factoring sizing considerations from electrical, maintenance, and shading aspects.

CSTEP research report.

In Central Receiver Systems (CRSs), thousands of heliostats track the sunrays and reflect beam radiation on to a receiver surface. The size of the reflected image and the extent of reflection from the heliostats are one of the important criteria that need to be taken into account while designing a receiver, since spillage losses may vary from 2 to 16% of the total losses. The present study aims to determine the size of an external cylindrical receiver, such that the rays reflected from all the heliostats in the field are intercepted. 

Concentrated Solar Power (CSP) plants require Direct Normal Solar Irradiance (DNI) data for both design and operation. The availability of DNI data, especially with closer time intervals, until 2010-12 was scarce. However, the India Meteorological Department (IMD) published a Typical Meteorological Year (TMY) data on Global Horizontal Irradiance (GHI) and Diffuse Horizontal Irradiance (DHI). The study developed a methodology to use these GHI and DHI data and arrive at DNI.

Closed Loop Brayton cycle power plants using supercritical carbon dioxide (sCO2) have drawn the attention of many researchers in recent times. In this power plant (using heat source from either solar or nuclear),one of the main challenges is the design of the prime mover, namely the turbine. Radial Inflow Turbine (RIT) is found to be a suitable candidate as it has many advantages over Axial Flow TurbinesTechnologies used for the design of RIT for air Brayton cycle are well established.

For the last couple of years, photovoltaics (PV) has been the preferred choice of technology for harnessing solar energy against Concentrated Solar Power (CSP). The major issue bogging down CSP is that it is not economical as compared to PV. Emerging technologies such as s-CO2 and Organic Rankine Cycle (ORC) could be the saviour for CSP going forward. To understand the techno-economics of a solar-ORC system, CSTEP and Indian Institute of Science (IISc), under SERIIUS project, worked together in assessing a low-temperature solar ORC system for off-grid applications.

With increasing contribution of solar PV based systems in our energy mix, it is crucial to understand their vulnerabilities. Various factors can affect the performance of PV systems. In this context, CSTEP explores questions such as: What is the effect of standard module degradation on plant techno-economics, for locations spread across different climate zones? What is the permissible rate of annual module degradation such that the plant remains financially viable? What is the effect of the cleaning cycle on plant techno-economics (via soiling losses)?

Large-scale penetration of EV comes with a plethora of sectoral planning challenges and will require coordinated planning between the transport, urban planning and power sectors. This report examines the charging energy requirement in order to transition to an all electric transportation sector (4-wheelers and buses), by 2030.

Solar tower technology has gained considerable momentum over the past decade. In a solar tower plant, a single receiver is used and the power collected by the heliostat field is strongly coupled to the tower height and its location with respect to the field. The literature available focuses largely on the component-level details of the heliostat field, ray-tracing mechanisms, receiver heat transfer analyses, etc.

A detailed methodology to design the size of solar field for a parabolic trough plant is not explicitly available in open literature, particularly if thermal storage and hybridization are also considered, as most of the papers present a gross overview.