Exergetic analysis and performance evaluation of parabolic dish Stirling engine solar power plant

In this communication, a 50 MWe design capacity parabolic dish Stirling engine solar power plant (PDSSPP) has been modeled for analysis, where 2000 units of parabolic dish Stirling engine each having capacity of 25kW(e) were considered to get desired capacity. An attempt has been made to carry out the energetic and exergetic analysis of different components of a solar power plant system using parabolic dish collector/receiver and Stirling engine. The energetic and exergetic losses as well as efficiencies for typical PDSSPP under the typical operating conditions have been evaluated. Variations of the efficiency of Stirling engine solar power plant at the part-load condition are considered for year-round performance evaluation. The developed model is examined at location Jodhpur (26.29 degrees N, 73.03 degrees E) in India. It is found that year-round energetic efficiency varies from 15.57% to 27.09%, and exergetic efficiency varies from 16.83% to 29.18%. The unit cost of electric energy generation (kW(e)h) is about 8.76 Indian rupees (INR), with 30years life span of the plant and 10% interest rate on investment. Copyright (c) 2012 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.