Review of Solar Tower Technology

Abstract

Solar Power is one of the most abundant energy sources on earth. Only 1% is being utilized nowadays. Among several ways to harness that enormous amount of energy, Concentrated Solar Power is one of the most promising way. It is efficient in the hottest weather conditions because it depends on converting the solar energy into thermal energy which then can be used to generate electricity. Solar tower is one important type of concentrated solar power systems. This technology has been under development in different countries around the world since 1981. It consists of Heliostats reflecting the sunlight into a receiver on top of a tower, hence the name solar tower. The receiver heats a medium which is circulated within the system is used to operate a turbine which in turn is connected to a generator to generate electricity. Several modifications were employed to enhance the efficiency. Combined Rankine-Brayton cycle is considered to be the most efficient to generate electricity with an increase of 2-fold compared to solar only system.