Creating computer models for all solar thermal power plants in the world

Fig. 1: Energy3D models for six solar power towers

Fig. 2: The Gemasolar Plant

One of the unique features of Energy3D is its ability to model, design, and simulate solar power towers. Figure 1 shows the Energy3D models for six solar power towers: Gemosolar (Spain), PS10 (Spain), PS20 (Spain), Greenway (Turkey), Themis (France), and Badaling (China). To support the research and development on concentrated solar power (CSP) -- a solar power solution alternative to photovoltaic (PV) arrays that may be able to provide some baseload capacity, I have been working on creating a library of 3D models for all the existing and planned solar thermal power plants in the world. The ultimate goal is to develop Energy3D into a versatile CAD tool for all forms of CSP (and PV), based on accurate simulation of existing plants first. The acquisition of the capability of reliably modeling both CSP and PV will enable Energy3D to truly support our Solarize Your World Initiative.

Fig. 3: The Gemasolar Plant

Fig. 4: The Gemasolar plant (June 30)

This article shows a bit of progress towards that goal. I have recently added in Energy3D weather data for scores of sites that already have CSP plants or are planning to build CSP plants. Many of these new sites are in Africa, China, Europe, and South America (some of them were requested by our users in Algeria and Chile). These newly added locations bring the total number of sites supported in Energy3D to more than 250. This growing network should provide you weather data that are approximately applicable to your site (but let me know if your site is not currently covered by Energy3D to your satisfaction). When you import your Earth view in Energy3D, the software will automatically choose the supported location that is closest to your site. If there is already a power tower, you can use the length and direction of its shadow in the picture to estimate the date and time when the picture was taken -- this can be done by turning on the shadow and adjusting the date and time spinner of Energy3D until the calculated shadow approximately aligns with the real shadow. After this is done, the heliostats that you add to the scene will approximately point to the same direction as in the image.

In this article, I picked the impressive Gemosolar Thermosolar Plant near the city of Seville, Spain as a showcase. The plant has 2,650 heliostats on 520 acres of land, each of which is as large as 120 square meters. The tower is 140 meters tall. The annual output is approximately 110 GWh. With molten salt tanks, it can store up to 15 hours of energy. Using a low-resolution setting, it takes Energy3D 5-10 minutes to complete a daily simulation and up to a couple of hours to complete an annual simulation. If you can afford to wait longer, you can always increase the simulation resolution and improve the accuracy of results (e.g., more points on the reflectors better account for blocking and shadowing losses).