Methodology for sizing the solar field for parabolic trough technology with thermal storage and hydribization

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. This paper gives a procedure to determine the annual electricity generated for a parabolic trough based solar plant of a given rated capacity (1–50 MWe), at a chosen location & given hourly annual solar input, specified hours of thermal energy storage using a two-tank molten salt system and specified fraction of hybridization using natural gas. In this methodology losses due to shut down or cloud cover are also covered.

DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.solener.2014.09.020

(*Badri S. Rao is the other author of this paper.)