Low-Cost Distributed Solar-Thermal-Electric Power Generation

低成本分布式光热发电

• 批准号: 0424462
• 负责人: Seth Sanders
• 金额: $ 24.31万
• 依托单位: University of California-Berkeley
• 依托单位国家: 美国
• 项目类别: Continuing Grant
• 财政年份: 2004
• 资助国家: 美国
• 起止时间: 2004-09-01 至 2007-08-31
• 项目状态: 已结题
• 来源: https://www.nsf.gov/awardsearch/showAward?AWD_ID=0424462&HistoricalAwards=false
• 关键词: Low; Cost; Distributed; Solar; Thermal

Low-Cost Distributed Solar-Thermal-Electric Power GenerationWe discuss the technical and economic feasibility of a low-cost distributed solar-thermal-electricpower generation technology based on the use of a solar thermal collector (STC)in conjunction witha free-piston Stirling engine.The solar thermal collector is to be comprised of low-concentrationnonimaging concentrators and absorbers with spectrally selective coatings.The Stirling engineconverts moderate temperature heat to electricity by way of integrated electric generation.In spiteof its relatively low conversion e .ciency,the proposed system can be a cost-e .ective alternative tosolar photovoltaic (PV)modules,as discussed in the project description.The system is conceived to operate with collector temperatures in the range of 125 .C to 150 .C,which is consistent with the use of stationary solar thermal collectors employing low-concentrationnonimaging re .ectors.Thus,the system avoids the costs and maintenance issues associated withtracking collectors based on high concentration ratio concentrators.We take the view that cost e .ectiveness of solar electric technologies should be judged byoutput power per dollar rather than by e .ciency or other technical merits.This view re .ects theobservation that there are vast untapped siting opportunities in both urban and rural regions ofthe world.Research into photovoltaics has been focused on improving e .ciency because therehas been no signi .cant decrease in the inherent cost of silicon wafer area.However,the proposedsolar-thermal-electric system is designed for fabrication out of low-cost materials.A collector isbuilt of glass,aluminum,copper,and insulation,while engines and generators are primarily steel,aluminum,copper,and plastics.In high-volume manufacturing,the cost of the proposed systemwill be determined by the weight of its bulk materials.This study of solar-thermal-electric systemsinvolves searching for a more cost-e .ective balance between system e .ciency and materials cost.Broader Impacts Energy independence and diversi .cation through the use of renewable dis-tributed sources is essential for the future of our society.In the project description,we make a casethat the proposed technology will cost on the order of $1 per Watt of peak output power.As such,this technology would represent at least a .ve-fold improvement over photovoltaic technology interms of cost.A simple estimate of energy cost using the proposed technology based on an averageof only four hours per day of operation over a modest ten year lifetime indicates a cost of about$0.066/kW-hr.Although not equal to the lowest costs for electricity,this is certainly an energycost that makes the technology very valuable when considering the additional advantages of itsnature.Namely,this is a distributed renewable energy source with an availability that is fairly wellmatched to peak demand times.Further,this technology is well suited to distributed deploymentin an analogous manner to that of photovoltaic generation.As such,it will be valuable for remotesites where utility infrastructure is non-existent or too costly as well as for residential and businesssites as an alternative to photovoltaics.The PI has been active in integrating research into new and existing classes,and plans to con-tinue this in conjunction with the proposed work.The PI also actively seeks to include underrep-resented student groups in his projects.UC Berkeley hosts the SUPERB (Summer UndergraduateProgram in Engineering Research at Berkeley,http://www.coe.berkeley.edu/cues/superb/index.html)program which targets underrepresented and minority students.The PI plans to actively recruitin the SUPERB program for students to participate in the proposed project during the summerperiods.Intellectual Merit A direct strategy for enabling a renewable energy source by seeking to min-imize the cost-to-output-power ratio is outlined.We analyze the cost of an integrated systemincluding a solar thermal collector and a low-temperature Stirling engine.Novel multi-phase free-piston Stirling machine designs are proposed along with rigorous analysis techniques for their designand evaluation.Speci .cally,a Stirling machine with no mechanical linkages and only three movingparts is discussed.This is a design that inherently permits for a long maintenance-free lifetime andfor very low frictional losses.1

低成本分布式太阳能热发电我们讨论了一种低成本分布式太阳能热发电技术的技术和经济可行性，该技术基于太阳能集热器（STC）与自由活塞斯特林发动机的结合使用。斯特林发动机是一种具有光谱选择涂层的非成像聚光器和吸收器。尽管其转换效率相对较低，但所提出的系统可以作为太阳能光伏（PV）模块的成本效益替代方案，如项目说明中所讨论的。该系统被设想在125 ℃至150 ℃的范围内的收集器温度下操作，这与使用低集中度非成像反射器的固定太阳能集热器的使用一致。因此，该系统避免了与基于高聚光比聚光器的跟踪收集器相关的成本和维护问题。我们认为，太阳能发电技术的成本效益应该根据每美元的输出功率来判断，而不是根据效率或其他技术优点。这种观点反映了世界城市和农村地区都有大量未开发的选址机会的观察结果。对光伏发电的研究已经由于硅晶片面积的固有成本没有显著降低，因此一直专注于提高效率。然而，所提出的太阳能热电系统是为低成本材料制造而设计的。集热器由玻璃、铝、铜和绝缘材料制成，而发动机和发电机主要由钢、铝、铜和塑料制成。在大批量制造中，建议系统的成本将取决于其散装材料的重量。这项太阳能热电系统的研究涉及寻找系统效率和材料成本之间更具成本效益的平衡。更广泛的影响通过使用可再生能源的能源独立性和多样性。贡献的资源是必不可少的，为我们的社会的未来。在项目描述中，我们提出的情况下，所提出的技术将成本约为1美元每瓦特的峰值输出功率。因此，这项技术将代表至少一个.ve-在成本方面比光伏技术有成倍的改进。使用所提出的技术的能源成本的简单估计仅基于平均在适度的十年寿命内每天运行四小时表明成本约为0.066美元/kW-hr。虽然不等于电力的最低成本，但当考虑到其性质的附加优点时，这肯定是使该技术非常有价值的能量成本。即，这是一种分布式可再生能源，其可用性与峰值需求时间相当匹配。此外，该技术非常适合分布式部署，其方式类似于光伏发电。因此，对于公用事业基础设施不存在或过于昂贵的偏远地区以及住宅和商业场所来说，该技术将是有价值的，可以作为光伏发电的替代品。PI一直积极将研究整合到新的和现有的类别中，并计划继续这与拟议的工作。PI还积极寻求包括在他的项目代表不足的学生团体。加州大学伯克利分校主办的SUPERB（伯克利大学工程研究暑期本科项目，http：//www.coe.berkeley.edu/cues/superb/index.html)该计划的目标是代表性不足和少数民族学生。PI计划积极招募SUPERB计划的学生在夏季参加拟议的项目。智力优点一个直接的战略，使可再生能源，寻求最小化的成本，输出功率比概述。我们分析了成本的综合系统，包括太阳能集热器和低温斯特林发动机。新的多相自由活塞斯特林机的设计提出了沿着严格的分析技术，为他们的设计和评估。特别是，本文讨论了一种没有机械连杆而只有三个运动部件的斯特林机，这种设计本身就具有很长的免维护寿命和很低的摩擦损失。