Analysis for hybrid photovoltaic/solar chimney seawater desalination plant: A CFD simulation in Sharjah, United Arab Emirates

Solar chimney power plant (SCPP) technology is considered among the most viable ways to exploit solar energy on a large scale. This technology possesses several advantages, including low operation and maintenance costs, high reliability, low environmental impact, and a long lifetime. A novel configuration of the solar chimney system is proposed in this work by the integration of transparent PV cells coupled with water desalination. Transparent PV cells were incorporated within this configuration to enhance total electricity production. ANSYS Fluent software was used as a simulation tool for the steady flow and the natural convection problem within the solar chimney. A complete parametric study was also performed for conventional SCPP integrated with transparent PV to evaluate the effect of different parameters on air velocity, static pressure, mass flow rate, air temperature inside the chimney, and turbine power output under 850 W/m2 solar radiation. The effect of radiation on the turbine and PV power output was investigated. The results of the present model showed that the net output power and the freshwater production for the hybrid system could reach up to 261 kW and 8.867 kg/s, respectively.