Design and optimisation of particle-based concentrated solar power tower systems with multi-aperture receiver

Abstract

Particle-based concentrated solar power (CSP) systems have been identified as a high-potential technology for lowering the levelised cost of electricity (LCOE) due to their higher working temperatures, lower-cost storage, and high receiver performance potential. However, limited system-level optimisation has been performed for these systems. Multi-aperture receiver designs allow for more heliostats to be placed around the high-cost tower. Here, a novel ‘cascaded’ receiver configuration is proposed and assessed for the first time, appealing due to its ability to tailor field segments to the sequential temperatures of each receiver. Three configurations, single-aperture, cascaded, and parallel multi-aperture configurations, are evaluated. Results indicate that while the cascaded configuration achieves higher thermal efficiency and a smaller receiver, its higher optical losses limit LCOE improvements compared to the parallel configuration. However, both the optimal multi-aperture systems, using the US DOE costing suggestions, achieved LCOE below 60 USD/MWh, marking significant savings of approximately 6% over single-aperture systems, indicating the multi-aperture particle CSP is a compelling technology for future development.