Search results for "Solar power"
showing 10 items of 34 documents
The Influence of Solar Power Plants on Microclimatic Conditions and the Biotic Community in Chilean Desert Environments
2016
The renewable energy sector is growing at a rapid pace in northern Chile and the solar energy potential is one of the best worldwide. Therefore, many types of solar power plant facilities are being built to take advantage of this renewable energy resource. Solar energy is considered a clean source of energy, but there are potential environmental effects of solar technology, such as landscape fragmentation, extinction of local biota, microclimate changes, among others. To be able to minimize environmental impacts of solar power plants, it is important to know what kind of environmental conditions solar power plants create. This study provides information about abiotic and biotic conditions i…
Biorefinery process for hydrothermal liquefaction of microalgae powered by a concentrating solar plant: A conceptual study
2017
Abstract A conceptual analysis of coupling a concentrating solar power plant with a biorefinery process consisting in the hydrothermal liquefaction (HTL) of microalgae to biocrude was performed. The configuration of the CSP-HTL plant was designed to allow continuous operation considering 10 kT of microalgae processed each year using, for the first time, a ternary nitrate mixture as heat transfer fluid and storage medium in the temperature range of 340–410 °C. With adopted models, the capital and operating costs of the solar plant marginally affect the minimum fuel selling prize (MFSP) of biocrude that decreases with the size of the solar field and of the thermal storage system provided that…
Optimization of photovoltaic solar power plant locations in northern Chile
2017
The optimization of photovoltaic solar power plants location in Atacama Desert, Chile, is presented in this study. The study considers three objectives: (1) Find sites with the highest solar energy potential, (2) determine sites with the least impact on the environment, and (3) locate the areas which produce small social impact. To solve this task, multi-criteria decision analyses (MCDAs) such as analytical hierarchy process and ordered weighted averaging were applied in a GIS environment. In addition, survey results of social impacts were analyzed and included into the decision-making process, including landscape values. The most suitable sites for solar energy projects were found near roa…
Solar Inexhaustible Power Source for Wireless Sensor Node
2008
Currently the appearance of really low power wireless transceivers is motivating the use of renewable energies to power embedded wireless sensor nodes in many applications. Nevertheless, energy storage and its degradation still keep on being the main issues in the design of any battery powered device. We present an autonomous power source based on a new system architecture, which uses the energy scavenging to replenish two different rechargeable energy buffers instead of the conventional single one. Combining appropriately a degradable large backup battery (Lithium-Ion) and a shorter but non degradable storage element (Supercapacitor), the lifetime of the group can be widely extended to wha…
Concentrated Solar Power: Ontologies for Solar Radiation Modeling and Forecasting
2014
This chapter considers the possibility of formally representing implicit and explicit knowledge of solar radiation modeling and forecasting by means of ontologies, with particular reference to the implications of concentrated solar power. The various applications discussed in the literature include various methods, such as spectral, parametric and empirical models, artificial neural networks and fuzzy logic approaches, as well as satellite and ground based imaging techniques. We want to use the principles of semantic technologies and formal ontologies, to represent knowledge in solar radiation models. The purpose is to capture the semantics of information and realize a system for sharing an…
Review of potential and actual penetration of solar power in Vietnam
2020
With the average solar radiation reaching up to 5 kWh/m2, Vietnam is considered as a country showing an excellent potential for solar power production. Since the year 2000, there have been a lot of studies about the potential of this source in Vietnam. So far, many applications of solar power have been implemented on small, medium, and large scales. In fact, the total capacity of current grid-connected solar power plants has exceeded the planned capacity by 2020 nearly 6 times. However, the studies of solar potential in Vietnam are still incomplete. The policies and mechanisms for developing solar power projects have received attention from the authorities but have not been really satisfact…
Heat transfer calculation in a free convection air solar collector
1998
This paper deals with the free convective air flow developing in a vertical channel with a rectangular cross-section heated on one side. The channel geometric and physical properties are such as to simulate an air solar collector suitable for building heating. A calculation method that can be applied to the transient combined heat transfer by conduction through the wall and by convection from the wall to the air stream is presented. The conduction across the wall is computed with a one-dimensional, time-dependent finite difference scheme, with convective boundary conditions at both wall surfaces. For the free convective flow along the channel, the air flow rate and the mean convective coeff…
A didactic experiment and model of a flat-plate solar collector
2011
We report on an experiment performed with a home-made flat-plate solar collector, carried out together with high-school students. To explain the experimental results, we propose a model that describes the heating process of the solar collector. The model accounts quantitatively for the experimental data. We suggest that solar-energy topics should be included in school programmes to give students the opportunity to gain experience with solar energy and increase their awareness of the benefits that can be obtained from this remarkable and renewable energy source.
The dark side of the sun: How solar power production affects the market value of solar and gas sources
2015
Abstract Using daily data for the Italian wholesale day-ahead power market over the period 2008–2013, we assess the impact of solar production on the market value of solar and gas sources, defined using the concepts of value factor and unit revenues. We find that, on average, solar generation negatively affects the solar source market value, causing a departure from the grid parity condition and mining their competitiveness once public incentives are removed. This negative relation is not constant over time and becomes stronger for increasing solar penetration in the energy mix. Interestingly, the opposite is found when looking at gas. While the relation between solar production and the gas…
Machine-learned models for the performance of six different solar PV technologies under the tropical environment
2020
Due to the recent environmental concerns and long-term challenges in energy security, the Global energy scenarios are shifting more towards sustainable and renewable energy resources. Brunei has planned to increase the use of cleaner energy technologies by contributing 10 percent or 954 GWh of renewable energy in its power generation mix by 2035. Out of the available renewable options, solar is the most promising one for Brunei, for example, the daily average solar installation is around 5kWh per day [1]. Though solar energy is an abundant resource, for optimally designing and successfully managing solar power projects, its availability in different time scales are to be analyzed and unders…