C.K. Madsen, P.F. McClure
Texas A&M University,
United States
Keywords: concentrated solar power, high temperature thermal energy storage
Summary:
High-temperature thermal energy storage (TES) is critical for advancing the efficiency and sustainability of concentrated solar power (CSP) systems. Traditional solar receivers often rely on localized absorption and subsequent fluid heat transfer to the TES system, which can lead to high radiative losses, thermal losses in transport, and limited energy storage, especially when coupled to low thermal conductivity TES media. This work presents a distributed concentrated solar receiver integrated with the TES via a novel light pipe architecture. Through simulations, we demonstrate a significant reduction in thermal losses thereby enabling increased TES temperature and total stored energy, while reducing associated radiative losses. These results highlight the potential to enhance the sustainability and operational efficiency of CSP systems for high-temperature process heat and power generation applications.