Silicon Carbide Solar Receiver for Residential Scale Concentrated Solar Power

The benefits of Concentrated Solar Power (CSP) systems include the ability to use them in combined cycles such as Combined Cooling Heat and Power (CCHP), and direct AC power generation. While this is done with success for utility scale power production, there are currently no systems offering this for residential scale, distributable power systems. In prior research, a low-cost high-temperature cavity receiver for a wide variety of applications was developed by employing silicon carbide [1]. The proposed design takes advantage of exclusive manufacturing techniques for ceramics such as machining in the green state and sintering multiple simple parts together to form a single complex part. Serious consideration has gone into designing a receiver that will be universally compatible with a number of applications. Some applications include using the receiver in a combined cycle power generation, as a chemical reactor, or for combined heat and power. The focus of this research is to analyze system metrics for a CCHP dish-Brayton system that is feasible for residential scale use. Preliminary research shows that an adequately sized system could provide a single family home with 2.5 kW of electricity and another 7 kW of process heating that could be used for absorption chilling or hot water and space heating. Cost analysis on the system will be performed to quantify its economic viability. Results on the analysis for multiple process heating applications will be presented along with the proposed design.Copyright © 2012 by ASME