Techno-Economic Investigation of Novel Hybrid CSP-PV Plant Configuration

Many researchers have recently become interested in the hybridization of concentrating solar power (CSP) and photovoltaic (PV) technologies. The hybridization has the objective to gather the low cost of the thermal storage system of CSP with the drop in PV technology equipment. Unlike the common hybridization configuration in which CSP and PV works separately to produce electricity, through this paper we present a new configuration where the PV is used to upgrade the produced heat from CSP by using the electricity produced. Midelt city (Morocco) is selected to perform this study, and system advisor model (SAM) software to simulate the PV and CSP behavior. SAM enables for the greatest performance of CSP and PV plants by optimizing the DNI design point and tilting angle. The outcomes demonstrate that these two parameters have an impact on annual production, LCOE, and capacity factor. The best DNI design point for CSP in Midelt City is 400W/m2, while the optimum tilt angle for PV plants is 32°. Furthermore, using a PV plant to upgrade the heat transfer fluid will save the plant 163, 500 € in the first year.