3 Installations of Solar Systems in Remote Areas …
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1. Water consumption
The availability and easy reach to water is a basic concern in remotely located
areas. Large quantity of water is necessary for extracting energy from solar energized absorbers/receivers and for cleaning of reflecting surfaces e.g. mirrors, polished aluminium or stainless steel. The availability of water is a prime concern in
some remotely located regions. The predicted water requirement ranges from 3 to
3.50 m
3 /kW. The 95% of total water requirement is generally utilized at cooling towers and 5% is consumed in general for reflective surfaces cleaning. The implementation of dry mirror cleaning techniques/technologies are really helpful in mitigating
the usage of water consumption in solar-based power generation units.
2. Drycooling
Lots of concentrating solar based power units are working on Rankine cycle with
steam as a working fluid. In steam condenser, steam cooling is achieved using
ordinary cooling water. Better cycle efficiency can be attained at lower steamcondensation temperature. Studies of NREL (National Renewable Energy Laboratory) have revealed that dry-cooling would preserve water usage by more than
90%. However, the difference of temperature between the cooing water and the dry
cooling medium may differ the yield of cycle thermal efficiency.
3. Dust-cleaning
The collection/optical efficiency of concentrating collectors depend on the reflectivity
of surfaces e.g. parabolic dish/cylindrical concentrator, heliostats and transmissivity
of the solar absorber cover tubes. Optical efficiency drops due to accumulation of
dust particles and therefore the overall performance of the systems. The studies have
disclosed that about 40% of the solar-thermal to electric power conversion decreases
due to formation of a dust layer of size 4.84 g/m
2 . It also influences the opticalperformance of a concentrating solar power reflective surfaces. Is also observed that
1% drop in the reflectivity raises the levelized cost of electricity by 1%. Regularly
washing mirrors with the help of water and maintaining reflective surface’s parabolic
profile/orientation of heliostats are the most effective ways maintaining collector’s
performance. At remotely located/rural areas it’s a big challenge to arrange water for
the cleaning task (Xu et al. 2016).
4. Concentrating Solar Power (CSP) desalination cogeneration
This is nowadays an attractive option in remotely situated rural/agricultural areas. The
steam generated using CSP cycle is utilized to support the desalination processes. It
may also fulfill the water demands of the remotely situated population facing dearths.
5. Heat transfer/working fluid
The heat exchange fluid is an important component of CSP technologies, which is
doing a job of collecting energy effectively from the concentrated solar radiation to
the steam driven prime mover. These are water/steam, air, thermal-oils, organic as
25
1. Water consumption
The availability and easy reach to water is a basic concern in remotely located
areas. Large quantity of water is necessary for extracting energy from solar energized absorbers/receivers and for cleaning of reflecting surfaces e.g. mirrors, polished aluminium or stainless steel. The availability of water is a prime concern in
some remotely located regions. The predicted water requirement ranges from 3 to
3.50 m
3 /kW. The 95% of total water requirement is generally utilized at cooling towers and 5% is consumed in general for reflective surfaces cleaning. The implementation of dry mirror cleaning techniques/technologies are really helpful in mitigating
the usage of water consumption in solar-based power generation units.
2. Drycooling
Lots of concentrating solar based power units are working on Rankine cycle with
steam as a working fluid. In steam condenser, steam cooling is achieved using
ordinary cooling water. Better cycle efficiency can be attained at lower steamcondensation temperature. Studies of NREL (National Renewable Energy Laboratory) have revealed that dry-cooling would preserve water usage by more than
90%. However, the difference of temperature between the cooing water and the dry
cooling medium may differ the yield of cycle thermal efficiency.
3. Dust-cleaning
The collection/optical efficiency of concentrating collectors depend on the reflectivity
of surfaces e.g. parabolic dish/cylindrical concentrator, heliostats and transmissivity
of the solar absorber cover tubes. Optical efficiency drops due to accumulation of
dust particles and therefore the overall performance of the systems. The studies have
disclosed that about 40% of the solar-thermal to electric power conversion decreases
due to formation of a dust layer of size 4.84 g/m
2 . It also influences the opticalperformance of a concentrating solar power reflective surfaces. Is also observed that
1% drop in the reflectivity raises the levelized cost of electricity by 1%. Regularly
washing mirrors with the help of water and maintaining reflective surface’s parabolic
profile/orientation of heliostats are the most effective ways maintaining collector’s
performance. At remotely located/rural areas it’s a big challenge to arrange water for
the cleaning task (Xu et al. 2016).
4. Concentrating Solar Power (CSP) desalination cogeneration
This is nowadays an attractive option in remotely situated rural/agricultural areas. The
steam generated using CSP cycle is utilized to support the desalination processes. It
may also fulfill the water demands of the remotely situated population facing dearths.
5. Heat transfer/working fluid
The heat exchange fluid is an important component of CSP technologies, which is
doing a job of collecting energy effectively from the concentrated solar radiation to
the steam driven prime mover. These are water/steam, air, thermal-oils, organic as