Economic, Energetic, and Environmental Performance of a Solar Powered Organic Rankine Cycle with Electric Energy Storage in Different Commercial Buildings

This paper presents an analysis to determine the economic, energetic, and environmental benefits that could be obtained from the implementation of a combined solar-power organic Rankine cycle (ORC) with electric energy storage (EES) to supply electricity to several commercial buildings including a large office, a small office, and a full service restaurant. The operational strategy for the ORC-EES system consists in the ORC charging the EES when the irradiation level is sufficient to generate power, and the EES providing electricity to the building when there is not irradiation (i.e., during night time). Electricity is purchased from the utility grid unless it is provided by the EES. The potential of the proposed system to reduce primary energy consumption (PEC), carbon dioxide emission (CDE), and cost was evaluated. Furthermore, the available capital cost for a variable payback period for the ORC-EES system was determined for each of the evaluated buildings. The effect of the number of solar collectors on the performance of the ORC-EES is also studied. Results indicate that the proposed ORC-EES system is able to satisfy 11%, 13%, and 18% of the electrical demand for the large office, the small office and the restaurant, respectively.