7.3.4: CSP – Pros and Contras
- Page ID
- 85117
\( \newcommand{\vecs}[1]{\overset { \scriptstyle \rightharpoonup} {\mathbf{#1}} } \) \( \newcommand{\vecd}[1]{\overset{-\!-\!\rightharpoonup}{\vphantom{a}\smash {#1}}} \)\(\newcommand{\id}{\mathrm{id}}\) \( \newcommand{\Span}{\mathrm{span}}\) \( \newcommand{\kernel}{\mathrm{null}\,}\) \( \newcommand{\range}{\mathrm{range}\,}\) \( \newcommand{\RealPart}{\mathrm{Re}}\) \( \newcommand{\ImaginaryPart}{\mathrm{Im}}\) \( \newcommand{\Argument}{\mathrm{Arg}}\) \( \newcommand{\norm}[1]{\| #1 \|}\) \( \newcommand{\inner}[2]{\langle #1, #2 \rangle}\) \( \newcommand{\Span}{\mathrm{span}}\) \(\newcommand{\id}{\mathrm{id}}\) \( \newcommand{\Span}{\mathrm{span}}\) \( \newcommand{\kernel}{\mathrm{null}\,}\) \( \newcommand{\range}{\mathrm{range}\,}\) \( \newcommand{\RealPart}{\mathrm{Re}}\) \( \newcommand{\ImaginaryPart}{\mathrm{Im}}\) \( \newcommand{\Argument}{\mathrm{Arg}}\) \( \newcommand{\norm}[1]{\| #1 \|}\) \( \newcommand{\inner}[2]{\langle #1, #2 \rangle}\) \( \newcommand{\Span}{\mathrm{span}}\)\(\newcommand{\AA}{\unicode[.8,0]{x212B}}\)
Pros:
- Fully “renewable”, carbon-free energy
- Operating costs are low – the “fuel”, the solar light, is essentially for free. The only costs are service and maintenance costs.
- Can utilize thermal storage to better match supply with demand (not possible in PV power plants).
- High efficiency of converting solar power to electric power – about twice the efficiency of the PV installations.
Contras:
- Intermittent – therefore, CSP plants can be located only at regions of exceptionally high number of sunshine hours/year: e.g., in Nevada, California, at major desert areas such as Sahara, or Gobi; in Europe, essentially only in Spain an in Portugal.
- Heavily location dependent (see the preceding item).
- Construction/installation costs are high.
- A single installation requires a considerable amount of space.
- Manufacturing processes often create pollution.
- Environmental concerns in the case of tower-type installations: birds flying to close to the tower (the beams aimed at the absorber are in- visible!) get burned alive.