Can thermal energy storage systems be used for CSP plants?

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 .

What is a concentrated solar power system?

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.

Should thermal energy storage be added to the energy system?

It has been shown that adding thermal energy storage to the energy system provides the invaluable benefit of taking an intermittent energy source and converting it to a constant power source. A simple control scheme was proposed for doing this.

Is thermal energy storage a cost-effective technology?

Thermal energy storage (TES), or the storing of energy as heat or cooling, is a cost-effective technology with many potential applications ( Dincer and Rosen, 2002 ). Concentrating solar power (CSP) systems illustrate the value of TES technology ( Gil et al., 2010 ).

What is thermal energy storage?

Thermal energy storage intends to provide a continuous supply of heat over day and night for power generation, to rectify solar irradiance fluctuations in order to meet demand requirements by storing energy as heat.

How much energy can a CSP plant store?

The newer CSP plants have significant storage capacity from 5 to 8.5 h using 2 tank-indirect storage configurations. Nevertheless, the fact that more than half of the plants do not allow for energy storage is a sign of a need to develop and integrate energy storage systems for this CSP configuration. 4.2. Dish/engine parabolic systems