SUNBURN: A Computer Code for Evaluating the Economic Viability of Hybrid Solar Central Receiver Electric Power Plants

摘要

The computer program SUNBURN simulates the annual performance of solar-only, solar-hybrid, and fuel-only electric power plants. SUNBURN calculates the levelized value of electricity generated by, and the levelized cost of, these plants. Central receiver solar technology is represented, with molten salt as the receiver coolant and thermal storage medium. For each hour of a year, the thermal energy use, or dispatch, strategy of SUNBURN maximizes the value of electricity by operating the turbine when the demand for electricity is greatest and by minimizing overflow of thermal storage. Fuel is burned to augment solar energy if the value of electricity generated by using fuel is greater than the cost of the fuel consumed. SUNBURN was used to determine the optimal power plant configuration, based on value-to-cost ratio, for dates of initial plant operation from 1990 to 1998. The turbine size for all plants was 80 MWe net. Before 1994, fuel-only was found to be the preferred plant configuration. After 1994, a solar-only plant was found to have the greatest value-to-cost ratio. A hybrid configuration was never found to be better than both fuel-only and solar-only configurations. The value of electricity was calculated as The Southern California Edison Company's avoided generation costs of electricity. These costs vary with time of day. Utility ownership of the power plants was assumed. The simulation was performed using weather data recorded in Barstow, California, in 1984. (ERA citation 12:036656)