374 results about "Solar thermal electricity" patented technology

A method and Apparatus for solar energy storage system uses gas for thermal transport for central tower solar thermal electric power plant to provide high quality, low cost, and continuously electric power generation. The storage contains a number of storage modules that each module can store energy for a given period of time. The thermal energy from central tower charges the modules one by one during the sunny time, while the thermal electric power plant discharge the modules one by one as long as it works. A control and a connection valve system control and connect the charge and discharge modules with the central tower and the power plant according to pre-arranged sequences. Fans at the cool side of the storage system push the circulation gas into the central tower or the thermal storage modules. In the discharge system, the hot gas from storage system is send to the heat exchange system, and to generate steam and to super heat steam for the power plant. In the charge system, the cold gas is pushed into the central receiver thermal exchange unit and to be heated, and the hot gas is then circulated back to storage system to charge up the storage system.

A solar thermal power generator includes an inclined elongated boiler tube positioned in the focus of a solar concentrator for generating steam from water. The boiler tube is connected at one end to receive water from a pressure vessel as well as connected at an opposite end to return steam back to the vessel in a fluidic circuit arrangement that stores energy in the form of heated water in the pressure vessel. An expander, condenser, and reservoir are also connected in series to respectively produce work using the steam passed either directly (above a water line in the vessel) or indirectly (below a water line in the vessel) through the pressure vessel, condense the expanded steam, and collect the condensed water. The reservoir also supplies the collected water back to the pressure vessel at the end of a diurnal cycle when the vessel is sufficiently depressurized, so that the system is reset to repeat the cycle the following day. The circuital arrangement of the boiler tube and the pressure vessel operates to dampen flow instabilities in the boiler tube, damp out the effects of solar transients, and provide thermal energy storage which enables time shifting of power generation to better align with the higher demand for energy during peak energy usage periods.

A solar thermal power plant 10 includes a steam generation portion 12 and a turbine 30. The steam generation portion 12 includes a steam drum 50 that separates water and steam, and an evaporator 36 and super heater 38 in fluid communication with the steam drum. The evaporator 36 receives and heats a portion of a flow of water from the steam drum 50 to provide the steam using solar energy provided thereto. The super heater 38 heats the steam from the evaporator 36 to provide super heated steam. A turbine 30 receives the super heated steam from the steam generation portion 12 to rotate the turbine. A plurality of extraction stages 66 extracts steam from the turbine 30 and provides the steam to a plurality of feedwater heaters 68. The feedwater heaters 68 heat the feedwater provided by the turbine 30, wherein the heated feedwater is provided to the steam generation portion 12.

An offshore vessel embodies a mobile buoyant energy recovery system enabled to extract energy from solar power. An exemplary energy recovery system comprises concentrating solar thermal power systems (CSP) or concentrating photovoltaic power (CPV) systems on the deck of the vessel. Within the vessel hull, ballast water serves multiple purposes. The ballast not only stabilizes the vessel, but also provides reactant for hydrogen electrolysis or ammonia synthesis, or steam for a turbine. For CPV systems the ballast conducts heat as a coolant improving the efficiency and durability of photovoltaic cells. For CSP systems the ballast water becomes superheated steam through a primary heat exchanger in the concentrator. In some embodiments, some steam from the CSP primary heat exchanger or from the CPV coolant system undergoes high-pressure electrolysis of enhanced efficiency due to its high temperature. In some embodiments, the remaining steam that did not undergo electrolysis drives a steam turbine providing electrical current for electrolysis. A secondary heat exchanger takes heat from the steam expelled from an energy storage process to efficiently distill ballast water at a lower temperature thus minimizing corrosion and build-up of scale. A remote control Supervisory Control and Data Acquisition System (SCADA) determines position, navigation, configuration, and operation of the preferably unmanned modular mobile buoyant energy recovery structure based on Geospatial Information Systems (GIS), Velocity Performance Prediction (VPP) models, Global Positioning Satellites (GPS) and various onboard sensors and controls.

A solar powered thermoelectric vehicle lacking an internal combustion engine. The vehicle may include a fiber optics bundle heat collector/conductor, a heating element embedded within a heat sink, a plurality of thermoelectric chips mounted around the outer surface of the heat sink, a hollow body surrounding the heat sink with a space present between the heat sink and the hollow body, a power converter, a plurality of thermoelectric power generators, an extended heat motor/apparatus, and at least one DC motor mounted to a wheel of the vehicle. The vehicle is capable of running without practical driving distance limitations under all weather conditions, day or night, without use of fossil or alternative fuels, and without generating and introducing toxic emissions into the environment.

A solar thermal power plant including a solar collector steam generator unit for generating steam, a solar collector steam superheater unit for superheating the steam, and a steam turbine is provided. The solar thermal power plant includes an intermediate storage which is connected to the steam conduit system in a first high-temperature storage connecting point interposed between the solar thermal steam superheater unit and the steam turbine to remove steam superheated in a storage mode from the steam conduit and which includes a heat reservoir in which thermal energy is drained from the steam fed into during the storage mode and is accumulated and the stored thermal energy is given off to the steam in an extraction mode, steam being fed to the steam conduit system from the intermediate storage. The intermediate storage is connected to a condenser and/or a relaxation device of the plant in a low-temperature storage connecting point.

A solar thermal power plant is provided comprising a solar collection system and a steam-electric power plant. The solar collection system comprises one or more tube radiation absorbers containing a thermal fluid therewithin, the system being configured to heat the thermal fluid by passing the thermal fluid through the one or more tube radiation absorbers while the absorbers are irradiated with solar radiation. The steam-electric power plant comprises an intermediate-pressure steam turbine, a low-pressure steam turbine, at least one additional steam turbine having an inlet pressure higher than that of the intermediate-pressure steam turbine, and piping containing a working fluid. Each turbine is associated with a heat exchange system adapted to transfer heat from the thermal fluid to the working fluid.

This invention relates mainly to a method for constructing low cost solar electric cells and panels. The Seeback effect is used in the conversion of solar heat to electricity. Temperature differential between two sides of the solar panel is achieved with the use of thermal absorbing materials and insulating materials. Dissimilar metal wires or strips are used in series and parallel to obtain the appropriate voltage and current.

The invention, the Concentrated Solar Thermoelectric Power System, herein abbreviated as C-STEPS, is a thermo-optical system configuration for the purpose of achieving a high solar energy-to-electricity conversion efficiency based on thermoelectric (TE) devices that use the Seebeck effect. It does so by implementing a system for concentrated solar energy using a design that combines a dual-function reflector/radiator component with an active or passive heat convection mechanism to ensure that TE module operation is maintained in a safe elevated temperature range with respect to the ambient temperature. Unsafe module temperatures are avoided by automatically adjusting the TE module hot side temperature directly or indirectly by regulating the TE cold side temperature using a variety of passive or active mechanisms, including the reflector/radiator component, phase change material, or convection/conduction mechanisms. A Numerical Design Model is used to optimize the configuration geometry and performance in various terrestrial and space applications and it is a central feature of the invention.

The invention discloses a solar energy comprehensive utilizing system for integrating optothermal mixed power generation and heat utilization, which belongs to the field of solar energy comprehensive utilization projects. The system comprises a solar energy photovoltaic power generation device, a temperature difference power generation device and a heat utilization device, wherein the solar energy photovoltaic power generation device is used for directly converting sunlight into electric energy; the temperature difference power generation device is used for directly converting solar radiant heat and waste heat of a photovoltaic cell into electric energy; the heat utilization device is used for recovering the waste heat of the temperature difference power generation device by using a flat plate type heat tube; and the system has a plurality of functions of photo-electric conversion, thermoelectric conversion, waste heat recycling and the like and can meet double demands of users on electrical load and heat load to maximum extent. Compared with other solar energy heat utilization systems, the system has the characteristics of high efficiency, no moving components and noise, low operation and maintenance cost, high reliability, modular combination the like.

The invention discloses a calculating method for mirror field optical efficiency on the basis of a graphics processing unit (GPU) tower type solar energy thermoelectric system, which comprises requesting mirror plane central coordinate matrix of a mirror field, determining the position of the sun, requesting mirror field cosine and atmosphere transmission efficiency; determining heliostats possibly having blocking and shading (B and S) effects with each mirror, translating the top points of a row of mirrors to the plane where the calculated mirror is arranged, and recording the coordinate after transformation; projecting the coordinate at the top point of an inlet of an absorber to the plane of each heliostat and recording the coordinate data; and utilizing the Monte-Carlo method and Helen theory to calculate B and S and intercept (B and S and Int) efficiency of the heliostats according to the recorded coordinate data, utilizing a compute unified device architecture (CUDA) calculatingplatform and a GPU double-layer parallel structure to accelerate calculation, compositing various efficiency to obtain the total optical efficiency of the mirror field. The method can improve simulation calculating speed of the mirror field optical efficiency of the tower type solar energy power station while ensuring accuracy so as to save optimization cost.

A solar-thermal power plant is provided. The solar-thermal power plant includes a working fluid circuit, a solar steam generator based on direct evaporation and a steam turbine for relieving the working fluid on a relief path while the working fluid supplies technical work. The solar-thermal power plant also includes at least one intermediate superheater, which can be heated using the working fluid. The working fluid may be removed from the circuit upstream of the intermediate superheater and superheated using the working fluid thereof, which can be fed downstream of the heating removal using the relief path. A method for operating a solar-thermal power plant is also provided.

Storage systems based on latent heat storage have high-energy storage density, which reduces the footprint of the system and the cost. However, phase change materials (PCMs), such as NaNO₃, NaCl, KNO₃, have very low thermal conductivities. To enhave the storage of PCMs, macroencapsulation of PCMs was performed using a metal oxide, such as SiO₂ or a graphene-SiO₂, over polyimide-coated or nickel-embedded, polyimide-coated pellets The macro encapsulation provides a self-supporting structure, enhances the heat transfer rate, and provides a cost effective and reliable solution for thermal energy storage for use in solar thermal power plants. NaNO₃ was selected for thermal storage in a temperature range of 300° C. to 500° C. The PCM was encapsulated in a metal oxide cell using self-assembly reactions, hydrolysis, and simultaneous chemical oxidation at various temperatures.

Energy supplying system in which effective use of waste heat from a solar power generator and an engine power generator. Electric power generated by an SLCS (sunlight cogeneration system) 1 and an EGCS (engine cogeneration system) 2 is supplied to a power consuming apparatus while its relevant waste or exhausted heat is transferred to a heat consuming apparatus 3. The power generated by the SLCS 1 varies depending on the local climate and is monitored with a power meter 6 or a power monitor apparatus 7. When the power from the SLCS 1 is declined, it is compensated by increasing the power output of the EGCS 2. Since the total power generated by the SLCS 1 and the EGCS 2 is maintained constant and the total waste heat released from the SLCS1 and the EGCS 2 is relatively stable, the heat consuming apparatus 3 as well as an power consuming apparatus 5 are steadily energized.

Solar energy collection and storage systems and processes of using such systems. Non-direct solar energy collection and storage systems can generate electricity from solar radiation using a solar thermoelectric generator and at the same time capture solar thermal energy in a working fluid. The working fluid can then transfer the heat to a thermal storage medium where the heat can be retrieved on demand to generate electricity and heat a fluid. Direct solar energy collection and storage systems can store solar thermal energy in a thermal storage medium directly from solar radiation and the heat from the thermal storage medium can be used on demand to generate electricity and heat a fluid.

The invention discloses a mirror field optimization design method of a cornfield and tower type solar thermoelectric system. The mirror field optimization design method includes the steps of using the product of the comprehensive optical efficiency of a mirror field and a land coverage rate of the mirror field as an optimization target, and optimizing the distance between the first row of heliostats in the mirror field and a heat absorber in the mirror field, the distance between every two rows of the heliostats and the distance between every two lines of the heliostats through a simplex algorithm so that the value of the optimization target can be the largest when the number of the heliostats and the arrangement of the heliostats are under a specific condition. According to the mirror field optimization design method, the contradiction between the number of the heliostats and the comprehensive optical efficiency of the mirror field is solved, and the mirror field optimization design method has better robustness and stability through the simplex algorithm. The comprehensive optical efficiency of each cornfield type small mirror field arranged through the mirror field optimization design method is more than 80% and is improved by 10% compared with the comprehensive optical efficiency of an existing ordinary mirror field.

The invention discloses a solar energy thermoelectricity co-generation and co-supply system. The solar energy thermoelectricity co-generation and co-supply system is mainly composed of a water system and an electrical power system, which are relatively independent. The main component of the solar energy thermoelectricity co-generation and co-supply system is a solar energy thermoelectricity co-generation component. The structural materials of the component comprise a glass cover plate layer, an air insulation layer, a photovoltaic cell sheet, an EVA adhesive film, a metal absorber plate, a heat exchange tube liquid flow channel, an insulating layer and a packaging base plate from top to bottom. A silica gel spacer supports between the metal absorber plate and the glass cover plate to form the air insulation layer; a high-selectivity heat absorbing coating is sprayed on the metal absorber plate to improve the absorbing efficiency for sunlight. Under the shining of the sunlight, the outermost layer cell sheet uses a photovoltaic effect to transform light energy into electric energy and output to supply power to the outside; longitudinal heat exchange tubes in the metal absorber plate on the lower layer collect energy of the sunlight as solar energy heat collecting tubes and heat generated by the cell sheet heating and transforms the heat into heat of cycle fluid to output, therefore, the energy utilization efficiency is improved to the most extent, and the thermoelectricity co-generation is achieved.

A method of generating superheated steam in a solar thermal power plant is provided, in which in a flow section for heat transfer medium steam is generated by solar energy in an evaporator zone and the steam is superheated by solar energy in a superheater zone. An evaporation end point of the evaporator zone is fixed in position in a control method, in which a spatial temperature gradient in the superheater zone and a temperature in the evaporator zone are determined and the mass flow of heat transfer medium in the flow section is adjusted in dependence upon the temperature gradient and the measured temperature in the evaporator zone.

The invention relates to a heat-transfer fluid, and relates to a preparation method for the heat-transfer fluid and a use thereof. The heat-transfer fluid comprises the following components in percentages by mass: 50-80% of KNO3, 0-25% of LiNO3, and 10-45% of Ca(NO3)2. A method for preparing the heat-transfer fluid comprises the steps of heating, and exposing in a high-temperature environment. The heat-transfer fluid is used as a heat-transfer fluid for a solar thermal power plant. The heat-transfer fluid, the preparation method for the heat-transfer fluid and the use thereof disclosed by the invention solve the technical problem of high melting temperature of an inorganic salt mixture for preparing a heat-transfer fluid at present.

The invention discloses a light centralization and collection device of a solar energy thermoelectric unit by a parabolic cylinder, which receives solar energy through the light reflection and focus effects of the parabolic cylinder. The device can enhance the receiving efficiency of the solar energy thermoelectric unit, and can be used to realize the collection and receiving of the solar energy under the environments both of strong light and weak light.