A comparative assessment of solar thermal electric power plants in the 1-10 MWe range

A major activity within the Solar Thermal Power Systems (TPS) Project of the Jet Propulsion Laboratory is the implementation of a series of engineering experiments to test selected technologies in application environments. A compehensive analysis was necessary and undertaken to examine the power system options in order to ensure that the most feasible systems are selected and tested. This study focused on a number of candidate small (1 to 10 MWe) thermal power systems for the small community electric power market. The objectives of this study were to rank the candidate power system technologies in terms of the cost of electric energy each system produces. In all cases, it was assumed that development programs would result in mature power plant systems that could be commercially manufactured. The results of the study are provided, and the systems examined, and the methodologies used are described.