CSP - Parabolic Dish

Hi!

I am a research assistant currently studying how to use SAM. Our project focuses on Concentrated Solar Power - Parabolic Dish Rankine Cycle. The closest model that found was Dish/Stirling but the problem is its system uses Stirling and not Rankine.

Can I use the Generic Solar Model to simulate the Parabolic Dish Rankine Cycle or is there a different way to have a simulation that can closely resemble our system?

Hi Ralph Danielle,

SAM's parabolic dish CSP model is based on an old dish-Stirling design.

If you have optical efficiency data for the collector you want to model, you could use the CSP Generic Model to model the parabolic dish / Rankine cycle system.

Best regards,
Paul.

Hi Mr. Paul!

Thank you for the information.

Is it possible to use the Generic Solar Model for only one system because the project we are working on consists of only one parabolic dish? I saw in the Generic Solar Model the Estimated Solar Field Area and it is giving me a very large value even though our project would not occupy a large area.

Thank you very much for your time!

Best regards,
Ralph

Hi Ralph,

The default values of inputs are for a 115 MWe system, so you would have to go through all of the inputs and adjust them as appropriate for the single collector. You will also need to provide efficiency coefficients for the power block that are appropriate for your system.

Best regards,
Paul.

Hi Mr. Paul,

Thank you very much for your help!

Best regards,
Ralph