Theoretical turbine power yield in solar chimney power plants

The solar chimney power plant is a promising system to generate electrical power from free solar energy. The analysis was carried out to improve the description of the operation mode and efficiency. The solar collector, chimney and turbine are modeled together theoretically, and iteration techniques were then carried out to solve the mathematical model developed. This model was developed to estimate power output of solar chimneys as well as to examine the effect of solar heat flux and structural dimensions on the power output. Results from the mathematical model were validated by measurements from the physical plant actually built and the model was further used to predict the performance characteristics of large-scale commercial solar chimneys. The results show that the plant size, the factor of pressure drop at the turbine and the solar heat flux are the important parameters for the performance enhancement.