Thermodynamic potential of a high-concentration hybrid photovoltaic/thermal plant for co-production of steam and electricity

A thermodynamic model was developed to assess the energetic performance of a dual receiver concentrated photovoltaic/thermal plant for the co-production of steam, electricity and hot water/air. The system utilizes a dual receiver including a steam generator based on a solar receiver and a concentrated PV/thermal receiver. The system is regulated so that a fraction (phi) of the thermal energy absorbed by the solar field is partitioned for the steam generator, while the rest is dedicated to the CPV/T unit. The results showed that the thermal performance of the system strongly depends on the phi value such that the system can simultaneously produce electricity and steam, while warm air and water can also be produced by cooling the CPV/T unit. Also, the thermal performance of the coolant is a key element to the system, which highlights the potential of nano-suspensions as a coolant in the system. Likewise, the assessment of the process plant was performed at field area of 2500-10,000 m(2), the solar concentration ratio of 50-200 and the CPV/T coolant's outlet temperature of 323-353 K. It was found that the highest values of thermal losses can be similar to 2% of the total thermal input of the plant. Also, a trade-off trend was identified between the phi value, steam and electricity production. It was also found that at a solar concentration ratio of 2000, the system is competitive to produce steam to be fed into a multi-flash desalination system. The energetic performance of the system revealed that at phi = 0.75, about 48% of the energy is partitioned for the hot water and hot air production for the agricultural application, while 24% is used for the electricity and 26% is used for the steam production.