NREL Parabolic Trough and Power Tower Studies SAM 2013.1.15

The following files are for analyses comparing SAM results for the physical trough model and molten salt power tower model to data from real systems in Spain. These analyses were performed using SAM 2013.1.15. If you would like to run one of the .zsam files to compare results with those shown in the documents, please be sure to download and install the same version of SAM as the one used for these case studies.

• Andasol-1 parabolic trough system in Aldeire, Spain (ZSAM 131 KB, PDF 892 KB).
• Gemasolar molten salt power tower system in Fuentes de Andalucia, Spain (ZSAM 20 KB, PDF 634 KB)

Published Paper on Power Tower Study SAM 2017.9.5

The following research study on short-term forecasts of DNI for plant operation is based on SAM simulations of a plant similar to the Gemasolar power tower. The paper discusses the SAM input parameters, and the authors have provided the SAM 2017.9.5 file below to accompany the article:

• Lopes, F.; Ricardo Conceição, R.; Silva, H.; Fasquelle, T.; Salgado, R.; Canhoto, P.; Collares-Pereira, M. (2019) Short-Term Forecasts of DNI from an Integrated Forecasting System (ECMWF) for Optimized Operational Strategies of a Central Receiver System. Energies 2019, Vol. 12 No. 7 p 1368. (PDF 5 MB)
• SAM file for power tower system similar to Gemasolar (SAM 2017.9.5 90 KB)
• Link to weather file for Sevilla, Spain from the EnergyPlus website: (EPW 1.5 MB)