Linear parabolic trough solar power plant assisted with latent thermal energy storage system: A dynamic simulation

One of the efficient solar energy harvesting technics is the parabolic trough concentrated solar power plant. However, if the concentrated solar power plant were not equipped with a storage system, the power plant capacity factor would be deficient. Latent thermal energy storage system using phase change material (PCM) is a high energy density storage system to provide durable energy with a constant temperature. In this study, first, a dynamic analysis is performed implementing TRNSYS software on the parabolic trough concentrated solar power plant located in Shiraz, Iran. Consequently, this system is assisted by the latent thermal energy storage system to improve its performance and capacity factor. Several high-temperature PCMs, namely H250, NaNO3, KNO3, and KOH, are examined in the latent thermal energy storage system. The simulation depicts that owing to the operational condition of Rankin cycle in this study, using NaNO3 in the latent thermal energy storage system is the best option with a higher solar fraction (34.14%) among other examined PCMs. In this case, the solar fraction has been enhanced by 90.5% in comparison with the solar power plant without the latent thermal energy storage system. The economic analysis illustrates that the payback period, IRR and NPV of the added LIES system are obtained as 11 years, 15.6% and, 617825$, respectively. The result of the sensitivity analysis on NPV revealed that the electricity price has the most effect on NPV and enhancing the electricity price has a positive impact on NPV.