Dear CSPSAM,
One source of information about storage for CSP systems is the
NREL Troughnet website
. You can also search the
NREL Publications website
for keywords like "csp storage" for more recent NREL publications on the subject.
SAM's thermal energy storage (TES) model for CSP systems includes a library of different heat transfer fluids for use as a storage fluid in the TES system. For the analysis you describe, you would first choose an option for the Storage HTF fluid input n the Thermal Energy Storage page. (You can also specify a custom fluid if you want to model one that is not in the library.)
Next, you would specify storage-related installation and operating costs on the System Costs page.
Depending on what kind of CSP system you are modeling, parabolic trough or power tower, you would then optimize the solar field and TES capacity for each TES design as described in SAM's Helps system. Instructions for optimizing the solar field of a parabolic trough system are under "Sizing the Solar Field" in the
Solar Field topic
, and for power towers, you can explore the sample file
Power tower field with storage optimization.zsam, which you can open from the File menu by clicking
Open sample file. (There is also a sample file illustrating the optimization for parabolic troughs.)
Best regards,
Paul.
