Tuesday 10 July 2012

Working of CSP - Parabolic Trough

As concentrating solar power technology is developing day by day, here is an explanation how parabolic trough works.

Before going to parabolic trough, let’s understand the principle of CSP.

Block Diagram of working of CSP.




The receiver receives heat from sun light. This heat is gathered in oil or other heat medium which further converts water into steam. This steam is used to run steam turbine which produces electricity.



As you can see in the image the parabolic concentrator concentrates heat into the pipe which is filled with oil. These concentrators are made of mirrors. Concentrator tracks sun all the day so that they can get maximum solar energy. The oil in pipes heats up to 395°C. This oil converts water into steam. This steam is used to run steam turbine which will produce electricity.

This system is cheaper than conventional solar system which uses photovoltaic cell which is costly. This system has very less working parts so the maintenance cost is very low. 

Here are some images of parabolic trough. 






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