Civilian high temperature solar energy system

The operating temperature reached using this concentration technique is above 500 degrees Celsius —this amount of energy heat transfer fluid to produce steam using heat exchangers. The energy source in a high-temperature solar power plant is solar radiation. Meanwhile, a conventional thermal power plant uses fossil fuels such as coal or gas.

High-temperature solar thermal (HTST), also known as concentrating solar thermal (CST), is a technology used for electrical power generation. HTST power plants are similar to traditional fossil fuel power plants, but they obtain their energy input from the sun instead of from fossil fuels.

In Concentrated Solar Power systems, direct solar radiation is concentrated in order to obtain (medium or high temperature) thermal energy that is transformed into electrical energy by means of a thermodynamic cycle and an electric generator.

Concentrated solar thermal power generation is becoming a very attractive renewable energy production system among all the different renewable options, as it has have a better potential for dispatchability. This dispatchability is inevitably linked with an efficient and cost-effective thermal storage system.

The chemical storage technology is also promising, but is even less developed than the latent heat one for concentrated solar power heat storage. Some studies have claimed that ammonia and the SnO x /Sn reactions may be the most suitable ones, but much more investigation is still needed. 9.

Thermal energy storage systems for CSP plants have been investigated since the start of XXI century, . Solar power towers have the potential for storing much more heat than parabolic trough collectors .