ANALYSIS AND COMPARISON ON THE PHOTO VOLTAIC VERSUS SIAM SOLAR DISH SYSTEM FOR IMPLICATION TO THAILAND SOFTLAND

AND POOR SOLAR INSOLATION NATURE

Suravut SNIDVONGS, EIT member* Vice President, Asian Renewable Energy Development and Promotion Foundation (AREF) 211/ 2 V.S.S Bldg, Ratchadaphisek Rd., Din-Daeng, Bangkok, 10400, Thailand Tel 662 276 7908- 0 Fax 662 276 7913 email airscan@cscoms.com PhD Student, School of Renewable Energy Technology, Naresuan University, Pitsanulok, Thailand. ABSTRACT The detail in this paper is one part of the dissertation development research project on the solar thermal dish Stirling engine system for a 10 kW power plant with lead acid battery storage, to be submitted to Naresuan University in Thailand. The project has later been named Siam Solar Dish research project. This paper shows a comparison on technical characteristics between general photovoltaic systems and a small solar thermal dish Stirling Engine System, on condition that both systems maintain the same output and storage capacity at 10 kW with lead acid battery. The dish in this paper is a parabolic design and equipped with a solar tracker. The Stirling engine is a 10 kWe four cylinder, swash- plate design and features a moving tube type heat exchanger, low offset space, and double acting pistons. The 10 kWe photovoltaic system is polycrystalline based without solar tracker and for this study both systems are assumed to maintain the same 250 kWe battery storage. The researcher in this research project believes that Thailand as a developing country is still far behind on the know how of high technology in related areas of metallurgy, reflector, solar tracking, high efficiency and high sensitivity motor, high temperature seal, etc. In particular, the solar insolation capacity in a very moist climate like Thailand, is also very far below in comparison to dry country weather. Therefore, it looks quite impossible to design the above mentioned system in the manner like as being done in other advanced technological and well developed countries. Inevitably, Siam Solar Dish I will not reach high efficiency level in general performance, but the researcher believes that Siam Solar Dish I manufacturing cost, operating cost, together with her durability capacity would be well accepted in Thailands market including many other under developed countries. However, Siam Solar Dish I design and calculation have been based on 1,000 W/ m2 solar insolation value, which is the international standard design value referred to in Advanced Dish Development System 9 kWe (ADDS) [1] One purpose of this research project is to establish the advantage and disadvantage of both systems as a guide for the end users to select which system is the best suited for installations in Thailand, as well as other global markets, in terms of price, maintenance cost, operating cost, Economy, performance, reliability and efficiency. The comparison in this paper will be presented in descriptive format, along with relevance photo pictures, graphs, and tables.

The Engineering Institute of Thailand Under H.M. The Kings Patronage

Some data came from real world data such as construction cost, material cost, labour cost, inflation rate, interest rate. Some data came from the researchers own experience, together with various referenced facts and figures from many Thai Government Offices published announcement [2], such as operation and maintenance cost. Other data came from basic experiments done either at the universities or at the researchers own lab room, that these are solar insolation, PV data, and Stirling engine test with electric heater. And of course, certain data also came from simple estimation and prediction calculation such as Stirling engine test with solar insolation [3].

INTRODUCTION Due to the sharp economic growth rate in Thailand for more than a few decades continuingly from the past, has thus forced Thailands electricity demand to climb up very sharply to the present. By the year 2010, it has been projected that close to 35,000 MWt will be required to meet the electricity needs of Thailands economy. This prediction has been prepared by Electrical Generating Authority of Thailand (EGAT) [4]. Presently, Thailand has installed an over all power plant capacity at 22,000MWt from year 1997 where Peak Demand were merely 17,000MWt. Current Consumption Increasing Rate (Forecasted by EGAT) are to be: 1. Prediction during I.M.F period 4%/ yr 2. Actual demand during I.M.F period 8%/ yr 3. Prediction during sound economy 16% / yr The Salawin Hydro Power Plant could be completed in the next 50 years under heavy investment problems encountered on both parties, i.e. Thailand and Burma [5]. Clearly Thailands electricity consumption demand cannot continue without facing stiff environmental consequential or otherwise Thailand will have to shift herself from the existing power generation base from fossil fuels to renewable forms of energy, of which solar photovoltaic or solar thermal power etc. seems to be an option. If coal remains as cheap as it is today due to its relatively abundant supply, renewable energy sources such as PV cells will hardly gain enough market share to make the efficiency strides necessary to become competitive. If, however, the environmental externalities were to be factored into the cost of coal-powered electricity, PV cells would then become comparatively competitive enough to become an alternate electricity sources. An internationally proposal of "externality tax" of 0.05 Baht/ kWh or 0.125 c/ kWh (phased in over 20 years) will be added to the price of coal- powered electricity. In Thailand, such a tax would generate almost 200 million Baht or 5 million dollars (1 US Dollar = 40 Baht, March 2005) in 20 years, some of which would be used to fund a program to purchase PV cells or solar thermal systems for all government buildings. This would enable PV and solar thermal manufacturers to scale up production, with more confidence on a large and stable market for their product in Thailand. It is sincerely hoped that part of this income would be spent, on some research and development in Thailand, in the fields of PV and solar thermal system technology. The result of these programs would be that the country could be generating 50% of its electricity with PV cells and solar thermal system by the year 2020. The emissions saved by making this change could be estimated to an equivalent amount of 10 billion tons of carbon from CO2 alone. It has been well known that, the most apparent and direct method of capturing solar energy is through solar heating and photovoltaic. This direct capture of solar energy for

power generation should become the primary source of energy generation on the future, particularly on the electricity generation aspect. [6]. Presently, the world is increasingly turning to PV cells and Solar Thermal Technology to supply her growing electricity needs, both in well developed countries where efforts are in place to reduce fossil fuel emissions, and also in developing countries where PV cells are already competitive as distributed sources of power due to lack of a centralized distribution system.[7] However, it is very unfortunate that Solar Thermal Technology has not yet been competitive since most of these relevant components and systems are still under commercial development trend. Not until recently, that the energy and environment problems have simultaneously to become the Governments most serious economical debating issues on a global basis. Therefore, the high efficiency and low pollution engine turns to be needed. The Stirling engine could respond to such requirement with various excellent characteristics, e.g. high thermal efficiency, multi- fuel capability, and low pollution emitted. Today, low temperature difference Stirling engines are expected as power sources with geothermal energy, and high temperature Stirling engines are to be used as power sources through solar energy. However, the Stirling engine still could not reach the commercial phase as yet, because the engine is still left with a few further development problems that needed to be tackled. Those are: a high production cost, an endurance of a non- lubricated seal device, and a low power to engine weight ratio. Table 1 shows that the sun insolation in Thailand is varying between in 450 to 550 W/ m2 whole year round, and the average value is at 500 W/ m2 over the year. We can plot the solar radiation graph from data of table 1 as in figure 1. Table 1. Solar Radiation Data Latitude 14.08 N, Longitude 100.62 E Diffuse MJ/ m2 Direct MJ/ m2 8.89 12.81 8.34 10.26 9.56 8.78 9.44 6.81 7.29 11.97 6.16 15.87 5.22 17.67 5.96 13.31 6.54 14.81 8.21 12.46 7.42 15.48 7.90 9.67 8.92 8.33 10.02 8.94 9.74 8.56 8.74 7.61

Month Year Total MJ/ m2 Jun 2003 18.63 Jul 2003 16.22 Aug 2003 16.85 Sept 2003 16.00 Oct 2003 17.94 Nov 2003 19.66 Dec 2003 19.71 Jan 2004 17.27 Feb 2004 19.07 Mar 2004 19.07 Apr 2004 19.72 May 2004 15.90 Jun 2004 15.51 Jul 2004 17.47 Aug 2004 17.56 Sep 2004 15.77 Source:Meteorological Station, Energy Laboratory, Asian Institute of Technology, Thailand [8] In this paper, the author has mentioned various referenced operational solar dish efficiency for the example, reference from McDonnell- Douglas system 29.4% which is not 10kW systems but this value is the highest record that Stirling engine from McDonnell-

Douglas can do. The target design of Thais government on Solar Dish system would like to have the peak efficiency at 25%. However, the author believes that the appropriate target efficiency design should be 20% because Thailand has some disadvantage, particularly on poor solar insolation, low technologies, and low quality of materials in comparison to well developed countries. In this paper, calculation has been based on the system which operates 24 hrs a day for 365 days per year assumption from lead acid battery storage support.

25 20

Diffuse Direct Total

MJ/m2

15 10 5 0 Jun Jul Aug Sept Oct Nov Dec Jan Feb Mar Apr May

Month

Figure 1. Solar Insolation of Thailand Photovoltaic It has been well known that Photovoltaic systems capture the diffuse solar radiation by using Silicon Photovoltaic. Figure 2 shows a silicon lattice that contains N- type and P- type. When a layer of N- type silicon is in direct contact with a layer of P- type silicon a PN junction forms. This PN junction is characterized by a charge depletion region extending into the N and P materials. Typically the N- type silicon is more heavily doped resulting in a larger extension of the depletion region into the P- type material. In this case, when photons are incident upon the N- type side of the material as shown in Figure 3, they will excite electron- hole pairs (EHPs). Devices are usually designed so that short wavelength photons will excite EHPs in the Ntype region, medium wavelength photons will excite EHPs in the depletion region, and long wavelength photons will excite EHPs in the P- type region. The PN junction has the characteristic that EHPs formed within a certain volume of silicon as shown in figure 2. The holes move toward the N- type material and the electrons move toward the P- type material. This separation of charge creates an electric potential. If electrical contacts are placed on the front and back of the material, then this potential will drive an electric current that will be available to do work. Advantages of photovoltaic cells 1. During operation, PV systems are emissions- free and, as they have no moving parts, are relatively clean and quiet.

2. PV- generated electricity does not have nuclear energys security- concerns, regarding its waste products. 3. The distributed nature of PV electricity helps decrease our susceptibility to any attack on the electricity grid, as the electricity can be generated in many places instead of only a few centralized power stations. 4. Photovoltaic systems are a modular system as energy demands increase; new PV cells can be installed as necessary. This type of system avoids the increased generation capacity (and excess costs) that comes with bringing a centralized power station online for a growing community whose demand is not yet in line with what the power station is capable of producing. 5. The generation of solar electricity coincides with peak energy demand. (Almost coincides there is a time difference the peak demand typically occur a few hours later than the peak solar insolation so that energy storage is required.) If PV systems are connected to the point of load, this will eliminate long distance power transfers during times of highenergy demand. This decreases transmission costs in addition to creating a more stable energy supply.

Figure 2. Distribution of electrons and holes Figure 3. The anatomy of a PV cell Source:http://acre.murdoch.edu.au/refiles/pv/text. Source:http://www.eere.energy.gov/pv/pv html menu.cgi?site=pv&idx=0&body=video.ht ml Disadvantages of photovoltaic cells 1. Photovoltaic cells, however, are not as a dependable source of electricity as on case of coal fossil. They can only generate power during the day, requiring either storage or another source of power for the electricity needed during the night. Besides, PV cells will not generate as much electricity on cloudy days and could be severely hampered if blocked by snow or debris. 2. PV cells come at high initial environmental costs. According to Thailands SEPA regulation, a system with high installation costs in a state without rebates can cost as much as Bht 400,000/ kW or $10,000/ kW* (depending on location and the interest rate if a loan was used to purchase the PV module, this could translate into Bht 18.4/ kWh or $0.46/ kWh* for the entire lifetime of the PV module) [9]. However, as PV cells require no fuel and have no moving parts, operational costs are minimal. 3. There is also a high environmental cost to produce solar cells. To actually produce a PV cell requires a lot of energy maintains that the energy buy- back time (the time it takes for the PV cell to produce as much energy as it cost to produce the PV cell) is 1 4 years, depending on the location and application [15]. While the silicon used in most solar cells is not in itself an environmental contaminant, silicon PV cells do require large amounts of high

purity water and toxic chemicals to produce. PV cells made of materials beside silicon have other environmental issues, such as the cadmium (considered a hazardous material to human beings) that is used in the production of cadmium telluride thin- film PV cells. However, such a small amount of cadmium is used to produce these cells that even if cadmium telluride PV cells were to become a major source of electricity generation, the amount of cadmium used in PV cell production would still remain under 10% of the worlds cadmium use [16]. 4. The amount of land required for large- scale solar cell production is another environmental impact. The area required for 1 MW power plant for 6 hours used at 1,000 W/ m2 could be compared among with the other power generation technology as to be estimated below: 4.1 Solar Cell with 5% efficiency will require 20,000 m2 or 12.5 rai** of land per MWe. 4.2 Normally, Solar Trough size 8 x 100 m with 75% thermal efficiency would require 4,400 m2, but for shading with multiplier 2.5 the required average will become 11,000 m2 or 6.9 rai** of land per MWe. For system with steam engine efficiency of 30% should require the same area. *** 4.3 Solar Dish with 29.4% efficiency will require 6,400 to 8,000 m2 or 4 to 5 rai** of land per MWe. 4.4 Conventional Power Plant normally will require 3,200 m2 or 2 rai** of land per MWe. 5. The amount of waste generated by discarded PV cells will be an issue to be resolved. However, the lifetime of PV cells is expected to be at least 20- 30 years, so waste generation will lag behind industry growth, allowing time for research into recycling programs. For the PV cells that are disposed of in landfills, leaching is not expected to be a significant issue as many of PV materials are water insoluble and strongly encased in glass or plastic [12]. * 1 US Dollar = 40 Baht, March 2005, ** 1 rai = 1,600 m2 *** In Thailand, a newly developed test engine has been tested as [18] the author found that much friction loss in the new developed steam engine with swash plate mechanism could be decreased! Solar dish A solar dish- engine system, as shown in figure 6, is an electrical generator that burns sunlight instead of gas or coal to produce electricity. It collects sunlight to produce electricity. The major parts of the system are the solar concentrator and the power conversion unit. The solar concentrator tracks the sun, reflecting sunlight into the power conversion unit (PCU). In the PCU, the concentrated sunlight is absorbed on a thermal receiver where it is converted into heat to power a Stirling engine. The engine then drives a generator producing electricity.

Figure 6. Solar Dish Source: http://www.eere.energy.gov/power/pdfs/solaroverview.pdf The dish, which is more specifically referred to as a concentrator, is the primary solar component of the system. It collects the solar energy coming directly from the sun (the solar 6

energy that causes you to cast a shadow) and concentrates or focuses it onto a small area. The resultant solar beam has all of the power of the sunlight hitting the dish, but is concentrated in a small area so that it can be more efficiently used. Glass mirrors reflect an approximate 92% of the sunlight that hits them, are relatively inexpensive, can be cleaned, and last fairly long in the outdoor environment, making them an excellent choice for the reflective surface of a solar concentrator. The dish structure must track the sun continuously to reflect the beam into the thermal receiver. The power conversion unit includes the thermal receiver and the engine/ generator. The thermal receiver is the interface between the dish and the engine/ generator. It absorbs the concentrated beam of solar energy, converts to heat, and transfers to the engine/ generator. A thermal receiver can be a bank of tubes with cooling fluid, usually hydrogen, helium, nitrogen or air, which are the heat transfers medium and also the working fluid for an engine. The engine/ generator system is the subsystem that takes the heat from the thermal receiver and uses to produce electricity. The most common type of heat engine used in dish- engine systems is the Stirling engine. A Stirling engine uses heat provided from an external source (like the sun) to move pistons and make mechanical power. Large-scale development of these systems will help us address current and future electrical power supply needs. The Southwest U.S., Nevada in particular, is an excellent location for the development and deployment of Solar dish power generation system because of the high intensity of sunlight available. In Thailand, however, the solar insolation is much lower than in Southwest U.S or in Africa, but it is still in the working range that the engine could be in operation. Since the Solar Dish Stirling engine will operate wherever the sun insolation value exceeds 200 W/ m2, and the average solar insolation in Thailand is at 500 W/ m2, therefore, the solar dish in Thailand could produce a peak power from 9 to 25 kWh at ease with twice reflector areas than other high insolation country. These Stirling engines could produce power only when the sun shines. However, Stirling units can also be equipped to burn natural gas to produce electricity power when the sun is not shining, or otherwise the electric energy could be stored in batteries to make use of the electricity power when the sun not shining. Solar dish engine systems are currently being developed for application in high- value remote power, distributed system, green power, and other grid- connected markets. Solar dish engine systems convert sunlights into electricity at very high efficiencies- much higher than any other solar technology. The current record held by a Solar Dish- Stirling engine system showed that it could be converted to an average of 29.4% [13] of the incident sunlight into electrical power. It has been known that an Advanced Dish Development System for Remote Power Applications could provide an opportunity for high-value distributed power (9 B/ kWh or 0.225 $/ kWh and higher for some remote applications) and also for commercial development. The Advanced Dish Development System (ADDS) project in Thailand, called Siam Solar Dish, is continuingly under developing and testing of the 10 kW low power to weight ratio dish Stirling Project, to address the possibility usage in remote applications standalone solar home system as the future target use in Thailands rural area. This system should bring the cost of electric down to 2.5 B/ kWh or 6.26 c/ kWh. as shown in page 9 of this paper.

Advantages of Solar Dish Stirling Engine 1. Dish engine systems have the attributes of high efficiency, versatility, and hybrid operation. High efficiency contributes to high power densities and low cost, compared to other solar technologies. The Stirling engine has better beneficial in comparison to the fuel types, in two areas: 1.1. Low emission and low pollution. 1.2. High thermal efficiency 2. More than 21,000 hours of a four Stirling engines (10,000 on sun and 11,000 in test cell). [14] 3. Average daily efficiency of 24% conversion of solar energy into electricity. [14] 4. Peak solar power generation of 29.4%. [14] 5. Depending on the system and the site, dish engine systems require approximately 6,400 to 8,000 m2 or 4 to 5 rai* of land per MWe. 6. Data from AREF, the initial installed costs of Siam Solar Dish System (Solar- only) is about 151,000 B/ kWe or 3,775 $/ kWe and 250,000 B/ kWe 6,250 $/ kWe for hybrid systems, in mass production the cost should go down to 100,000 B/ kWe or 2,500 $/ kWe. This relatively low- cost potential is, to a large extent, a result of dish engine systems inherent high efficiency. 7. Because of their versatility and hybrid capability, Solar Dish Stirling engine systems have a wide range of potential applications. In principle, Solar dish Stirling engine systems are capable of providing power ranging from kilowatts to gigawatts when used in large array of farm dishes. However, it is expected that dish engine systems will have their greatest impact in grid- connected applications in the 1 to 50 MWe power range. The largest potential market for dish engine is large scale power plants connected to the utility grid. 8. Their ability to be quickly installed, their inherent modularity, and their minimal environmental impact make them a good candidate for new peaking power installations. The output from many modules can be ganged together to form a Solar dish Stirling engine farm and produce a collective output of virtually any desired amount. In addition, systems can be added as needed to respond to demand increases. Hours of peak output are often coincident with peak demand. Although Solar dish Stirling engine systems do not currently have a costeffective energy storage system, their ability to operate with fossil or bio- derived fuels makes them, in principle, fully dispatch able. This capability in conjunction with their modularity and relatively benign environment impacts suggests that grid support benefits could be major advantages of these systems. 9. Solar dish Stirling engine systems can also be used individually as stand alone systems for applications such as water pumping. While the power rating and modularity of solar dish Stirling engine seem ideal for stand alone applications, there are challenges related to installation and maintenance of these systems in a remote environment. Solar dish Stirling engine systems need to stow when wind speeds exceed a specific condition, usually 16 m/ s. Reliable sun and wind sensors are therefore required to determine if conditions warrant operation. In addition, to enable operation until system can become self sustaining, energy storage (e.g., battery like those used in a diesel generator set) with its associated cost and reliability issues is needed. Therefore, it is likely that significant entry in stand alone markets will occur after the technology has had an opportunity to mature in utility and village- power markets. 10. Intermediate- scale applications such as small grids (village power) appear to be well suited to solar dish Stirling engine systems. The economics of scale of utilizing multiple units 8

to support a small utility, the ability to add modules as needed, and a hybrid capability make the solar dish Stirling engine systems ideal for small grids. 11. Because solar dish Stirling engine systems use heat engines, they have an inherent ability to operate on fossil fuels. The use of the same power conversion equipment, including the engine, generator, wiring, and switch gear, etc., implies that only the addition of a fossil fuel combustor is required to enable a hybrid capability. System efficiency, based on the higher heating value, is expected to be about 30% for a dish/ Brayton system operating in the hybrid mode. [17] 12. The environmental impacts of solar dish Stirling engine systems are minimal. Stirling engines are known for being quiet, relative to internal combustion gasoline and diesel engines, and even the highly recuperated Brayton engines are reported to be relatively quiet. The biggest source of noise from a solar dish Stirling engine system is the cooling fan for the radiator. Emissions from solar dish Stirling engine systems are zero except from gas which is quite low. Other than the potential for spilling small amounts of engine oil or coolant or gearbox grease, these systems produce no effluent to the environment when operating with solar energy. Even when operating with a fossil fuel, the steadily flow combustion systems used in both Stirling and Brayton systems resulted in extremely low emission levels. This is, in fact, a requirement for the hybrid vehicle and cogeneration applications for which these engines are primarily being developed. Disadvantages of Solar Dish Stirling Engine 1. To control the speed of Stirling engine is not easy such as to increase or decrease the heat temperature or pressure under control by adjusting the phase angle. Some Stirling engines are designed to maintain a constant speeds whatever the load these include electric generators and water pumps. Other engines require speed variation acceleration or deceleration. 2. Stirling engine that operates at normal air pressure has a limited potential for developing power. If an engine is pressurized, however, the output power increases dramatically. DISCUSSION In Thailand, Figure 8 shows the probe of thermometer at focus point on the solar dish under testing with Thailands poor insolation nature. With Thailands normal solar insolation level, the system did produce the actual temperature in the range of 550 to 650 C as shown in Figure 9. The design and calculation for the Siam Solar Dish are based on the standard solar insolation design value of 1,000 W/ m2. Through this figure, we will proceed to compare with other world recorded Solar Dish Engine on the aspects of efficiency, and power output, at various solar insolation.

Figure 8. Temperature tested at focus point through a stagnation temperature test with no heat

removed by an engine for a fairly short time period. The purpose was to prove that, even though Thailand had poor insolation level, the parabolic dish can collect the energy at the same temperature level in comparison to other solar dish station in the world. The only difference may be the collector area should be larger, lower concentration ratio, etc. Source: AREF, Thailand, March 2003.

Power Output VS Insolation 18 16 14 12 10 8 6 4 2 0 0 250 500 750 Solar Insolation (W/m2)

Power Output (kW)

Design Value

Test Value

1000

Figure 9. The parabolic dish easily reach the temperature 550 C or more. Source: AREF, Thailand, April 2003.

Figure 10. Gross system output of the Siam Solar Dish System on December 2004, projected from a 4x 5 kW electric heater tests as data to predict for Solar test mode. Source: AREF, Thailand, March 2005.

Figure 11 Stirling Engine at AREF laboratory Source: AREF, Thailand, March 2005-03-31 10

Engine Test Figure 11 shows the prototype engine at AREF and Figure 10 shows the test result of the 10 kW Siam Solar Dish. The original insolation design value of this system is at the maximum level of 1,000 W/ m2. This number based on the standard of ADDS project. The graph shows the design insolation values varying from 150 to 1,000 W/ m2 with the calculated deliverable output varying from 2.5 to 17kWe. The test result shows the insolation value varying from 250 to 555 W/ m2 with the actual output power varying from 2.8 to 8.2 kW. This result does not exactly coincide with the original design value because Thailand has lower insolation than in dry weather country with solar insolation varying from 850 to 950 W/ m2. However, the Siam Solar Dish would start operating from the insolation level of 250 W/ m2, a bit higher than the original expected design insolation value at 200 W/ m2. Also the maximum power output is merely 8.2 kWe not 17 kWe; due to the above mentioned lower insolation level in Thailand climate. The graph also indicated that the fabricated system could provide more output, if the available insolation values continue to increase. This engine was tested at AREF with 4 x 5 kW electric heaters. The target efficiency value of this engine from table 11 is 20%. This test value based on electric heater, as the calibration of the engine and ADDS standard. For the real solar test is under the process and expect to have the efficiency around 20%. Construction Costs All data came from original cost of real construction prototype system at AREF and Naraesuan University, Thailand. Table 2. Actual construction costs for small solar thermal dish Stirling 10 kW system with lead acid battery. Descriptions Bht Designing Fee 100,000.00 Foundation 250,000.00 Space Frame Structure 200,000.00 Reflector Material 60,000.00 Tracking System 150,000.00 Stirling Engine 400,000.00 Generator 10 kW 50,000.00 Control System 100,000.00 Lead Acid Battery 60 kW 150,000.00 Inverter System 10 kW 50,000.00 Wiring System 50,000.00 Total 1,560,000.00 /kWe 156,000.00 Notes: 1 US Dollar = 40 Baht, March 2005 Source: AREF, Thailand, March 2005. US $ 2,500.00 6,250.00 5,000.00 1,500.00 3,750.00 10,000.00 1,250.00 2,500.00 3,750.00 1,250.00 1,250.00 39,000.00 3,900.00

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Table 3. Actual construction costs for single crystalline photovoltaic 10 kW systems with lead acid battery. Descriptions Bht US $ Designing Fee 100,000.00 2,500.00 Foundation 50,000.00 1,250.00 Steel Structure 200,000.00 5,000.00 Single Crystalline Photovoltaic 10 2,000,000.00 50,000.00 kW Charge Controller System 150,000.00 3,750.00 Lead Acid Battery 60 kW 150,000.00 3,750.00 Inverter System 10 kW 50,000.00 1,250.00 Wiring System 50,000.00 1,250.00 Total 2,750,000.00 68,750.00 / kWe 275,000.00 6,875.00 Notes: 1 US Dollar = 40 Baht, March 2005 Source: AREF, Thailand, March 2005. Tables 2 and 3 are the actual costs for construction of solar thermal dish Stirling 10 kW which is $39,000.00, so, 1 kW of construction cost will be $3,900.00. The plant life is 10 years so the depreciation in 10 years will be 39,000/ (10 x 365 x 24) = $0.0445, and the actual costs for construction of photovoltaic 10 kW which is $ 68,750.00. The plant life is 10 years so the depreciation in 10 years will be 68,750/ (10 x 365 x 24) = $ 0.785. These figures based on economic calculation, the depreciation must calculate from total life, and/that can not use operation times to be calculated, such as, 6 hours per day. These tables summarized facts and figures of the actual construction costs, with available materials in Thailand, for the dish structure, foundation, solar tracker circuit, solar trackers drive mechanism, together with the Stirling engine. The generator, cyclo-drive motor, and reduction gear are Mitsubishi supplies, with the reflector from Miro-Sun. The two tables show that both systems have the same designing fees, same steel structure, same lead acid battery, same inverter system, and the same wiring system. The total costs Solar thermal dish Stirling engine system will have lower construction costs in comparison to the photovoltaic system, at Bht 156,000.00 or $ 3,900.00 VS Bht 275.000.00 or $ 6.875.00.

Figure 12. Parabolic Dish Structure at Naraesuan University, Thailand. Basic engineering and calculation for steel structure, foundation done by the author. Steel fabrication work done by Don Bosco Technical School. Erection and Installation work done by the author and the University staffs. Controller system, Solar Tracker mechanism and circuit design and assembly work by the author.

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Figure 13. Single Crystalline Photovoltaic at Naraesuan University, Thailand

Figure 14. Solar tracker sensor, AREF, Thailand

Table 4. Operating Costs and Production Costs/ kWh for solar thermal dish Stirling 10 kW with lead acid battery for 10 years period in Thailand. Descriptions Bht/ kWh US $/ kWh Power Plant Cost 1.78 0.0445 Operation Cost 10 % * 0.178 0.0044 Inflation 7 %* 0.125 0.0031 Interested 15 %* 0.27 0.0067 Maintenance Cost 15 %* 0.27 0.0067 Electrical Cost 2.62 0.0655 Notes: 1 US Dollar = 40 Baht, March 2005, *Thais standard Source: AREF, Thailand, March 2005. Table 5. Operating Costs and Production Costs/ kWh for Single Crystalline Photovoltaic 10 kW with lead acid battery for 10 years period in Thailand. Descriptions Bht/ kWh US $/ kWh Power Plant Cost 3.02 0.0755 Operation Cost 10 %* 0.30 0.0075 Inflation 7 %* 0.21 0.0053 Interested 15 %* 0.45 0.0113 Maintenance Cost 30 %* 0.91 0.0227 Electrical Cost 4.89 0.1223 Notes: 1 US Dollar = 40 Baht, March 2005, *Thais standard Source: AREF, Thailand, March 2005. Table 6. Solar dish power technology projected cost. Descriptions US $ Power Plant Cost / kW 2,900 O&M / kWh 0.02 LEC year 2000 - 2010 / kWh 0.086- 0.13 to 0.04-0.06 Source: Sun Lab DOE/GO-10098-563, April 1998 [14] Table 4 and 5 show the actual operation and production cost of both systems in Thailand. This costing value was calculated on a 365 days at 24 hours per day of operation for 10 years basis. The pre- assumed percentage values were based on the researchers own experience and frequently used facts and figures available in Thailands normal and practical operating cost, inflation, interest rate, and maintenance cost. The operating cost, Inflation, Interest, and the related Maintenance Cost came from the percentage times the power plant cost. The electrical cost will be the sum of power plant cost, operation cost, inflation, interested rate,

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maintenance cost. The two tables show that both systems had the same percentage of operating cost, inflation, and interest rate. Photovoltaic system has higher maintenance cost than solar thermal dish Stirling because the spare parts of photovoltaic are much more expensive than solar thermal dish Stirling, as this Stirling engine was local made in Thailand by the author et. al. The photovoltaic system would provide the electrical cost at 2.62 Bht/ kWh or $0.1223 / kWh and the Solar thermal dish Stirling will produce electricity at 4.89 Bht/ kWh or $0.0655/ kWh cost. Table 6 shows world wide recorded concentrating solar dish power technology projected cost from April 1998. [15] The cost of power plant per kilowatt is US $ 2,900 from table 2; the cost of power plant in Thailand March 2005 cost US $ 3,900. These cost if consider inflation rate 7% for 7 years would become US $ 1,460 added to the cost of the year 1998, so the price will then become 4,660 which is much higher than the Siam Solar Dish at US $ 1,760. Furthermore, the Siam solar dish had the battery and the inverter included in the cost, which should be discarded, because in normal operation the system will operate only under the a.c. mode so the total price on Siam Solar Dish should go further down to US $ 3,400 instead of 3,900. Performance From Tables 7 and 8, with the same power peak output, 10 kW, the PV system will require more area to install system than Solar dish Stirling by two times. The efficiency before inverter and battery PV system will be 10% but Solar Dish will be 25% that is 2.5 times much higher than PV system. The efficiency of battery and invert for both systems are the same so the total efficiency of PV system is going down to 8.55% compare to Solar Dish which is 14.25%. The power plant costs per kilowatt PV are much higher than solar dish 1.75 times. The total electrical price produced from PV system will be around 4.89 B/ kWe (0.12 $/ kWe) and Solar Dish will be around 2.62 B/ kWe (0.06625 $/ kWe) as no maintenance cost from foreign technology, but only technology develop in side the country. This make cost of spare parts lower, even the engine has moving part but the life time of the parts will last longer. Both systems have quite the same reliability as they have same sun insolation, same location, same capacity of battery 250 kW and same inverter. The only different was the method to convert energy to electricity; PV system has lower efficiency to convert energy to electricity than Solar Dish system. A solar hour in Thailand is approximate 6 hours, from 9.00 am to 15.00 pm. Solar cell 10 kW systems required 100 m2 of solar collector area. Solar Dish 10 kW system required 50 m2 of solar collector area. Data from table 8 can plot the graph as shown in Figure 15. Table 7. Comparison between PV versus Solar Dish 10 kW power plant for 24 hrs/ day operation with lead acid battery in Thailand Descriptions Solar Dish Stirling Photovoltaic Land Area m2 120.00 120.00 2 Operation Area m 50.00 100.00 Hour of Operation/ year 8,760.00 8,760.00 Efficiency % 25.00 10.00 Battery Efficiency % 60.00 60.00 Inverter Efficiency % 95.00 95.00 Total Efficiency 14.25 8.55 Cost / kWe 156,000.00 275,000.00 Electric Price B/ kWh 2.62 4.89 Technology 90 % made in Thailand High Technology, just assembly in Thailand 14

Production energy same same Stand Alone Unit same same Energy receiver Direct Diffuse Method of conversion Concentration Non- Concentration Direct Pollution Impact None None Indirect Pollution Impact Some Some Source: Frequently Asked Question about Solar Cells NSTDA, [16] and AREF, Thailand, March
2005.

Table 8. Energy capture by PV versus Solar Dish with same land area Dish @ Diffuse Direct Mon PV@ 8.55% kWh/ m2 14.25% MJ/ m2 kWh/ m2 MJ/ m2 kWh/ m2 kWh/ m2 Jun 8.89 2.47 0.21 12.81 3.56 0.50 Jul 8.34 2.32 0.20 10.26 2.85 0.41 Aug 9.56 2.66 0.23 8.78 2.44 0.35 Sep 9.44 2.62 0.22 6.81 1.89 0.27 Oct 7.29 2.03 0.17 11.97 3.33 0.47 Nov 6.16 1.71 0.15 15.87 4.41 0.63 Dec 5.22 1.45 0.12 17.67 4.91 0.70 Jan 5.96 1.66 0.14 13.31 3.70 0.53 Feb 6.54 1.82 0.16 14.81 4.11 0.59 Mar 8.21 2.28 0.19 12.46 3.46 0.49 Apr 7.42 2.06 0.18 15.48 4.30 0.61 May 7.90 2.19 0.19 9.67 2.69 0.38 Remark: Data from year 2003 2004 Source: AREF, Thailand, March 2005.

Figure 15. Solar Dish VS Solar Cell with same collector area
0.9 0.8 0.7 0.6 0.5 0.4 0.3 0.2 0.1 0 Jun

kW/m2

Solar Dish

PV Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec Month Jan Feb Mar Apr May

From table 8 can plot the graph as shown in Figure 15 for Solar Dish VS Solar Cell with same collector area. This figure show the energy received by each system during each month of the year.

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Table 9. Total energy capture by PV and Solar Dish Month Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec Jan Feb Mar Apr May Average Battery PV kWh/ m 0.21 0.20 0.23 0.22 0.17 0.15 0.12 0.14 0.16 0.19 0.18 0.19 60 %
2

kW 126 120 138 132 102 90 72 84 96 114 108 114 108 180

Solar Dish kWh/ m2 0.50 0.41 0.35 0.27 0.47 0.63 0.70 0.53 0.59 0.49 0.61 0.38

kW 150 123 105 81 141 189 210 159 177 147 183 114 148.25 247.08

Figure 16. Total Energy Capture by PV and Solar Dish

350 300 250 Kw 200 150 100 50 0 Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct PV Nov Dec Jan Feb Mar Apr May Month Solar Dish

From table 9 can plot the graph as shown in Figure 16 for Total Energy capture by PV and Solar Dish. This figure show the net energy received by each system during each month of the year.

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Comparison between Solar Dish and Solar Cell Table 10. The comparison between Solar dish with solar cell in Thailand. Solar Dish Solar Cell Descriptions Technology 90% made in Thailand Imported high technology, not ready to make in Thailand, Only assembly. Production Electric Electric energy Stand Alone Large Small Unit Energy receiver Direct Diffuse Method of Concentration Non-Concentration conversion Pollution None None Electricity A.C. D.C Inverter None Needed Construction Normal Very High Cost Operation Medium Easy Maintenance Low High Cost B/ kWh 2.62 4.89 Source: AREF, Thailand, March 2005. In table 10 show the comparison between Solar Dish with Solar Cell in Thailand for Production of Energy, Size, Can stand alone or not, Method of Energy received, Method of power conversion, Pollution, Type of electricity produce, Required inverter or not, Construction cost, Operation, Maintenance cost, Cost of produce energy per kilowatt. According to the present technological capacity available in Thailand, it is apparent that the Siam Solar Dish could be fabricated fairly easily locally in Thailand by Thais engineers and technicians. However, the Single Crystalline Photovoltaic cannot yet be manufactured in Thailand. It could only be assembled inside the country with available facilities. Both systems can produce electricity, where as the Stirling/ generator can produced both AC and DC, while the PV can produce only DC. Solar Dish can be stand alone unit up to a very large system capacity, while the PV will be installed in Thailand only as a very small system to an individual household unit. Solar Dish requires direct radiation with concentrator but PV use only diffuse radiation without concentrator. Both systems emit non pollution. PV always needs the inverter to produce AC, which is normally considered to be inferior environmental characteristics, while Solar Dish is not necessary to do so. Solar Dish has lower construction cost, maintenance cost, and less area requirement than PV. However, the operation procedure for PV is much simpler than Solar Dish. Cost of electricity produced on Solar Dish is 2.62 Bht/ kWh or 0.0655 $/ kWh. And 4.89 Bht/ kWh or 0.1223 $/ kWh for PV. This data is based on the information gathered from AREF in March 2005. Additionally, the author choose MIRO-SUN as the solar dish reflector material because they have the reflectance > 90 % as shown in figure 17. This data came from their specification sheets [19]. This material has light weight, durable, and can be used out door.

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Design Target Characteristics of the Siam Solar Dish Table 11. Design Target Characteristics [20] Dish Structure Type Delta Truss Diameter 8.4 m System Height 10 m Focus 4 m Maximum Wind Load 160 Km/hr Normal Working Wind 65 Km/hr Load Life Load 50 Kg/m2 Service Load 15 Kg/m2 Foundation Type Concrete design for Soft Land Solar Concentrator Type Fixed focus facets Receiver Direct Illumination Area 55 m2 Number of Facets 64 Reflective Surface 0.5 mm Aluminum MIRO-SUN Reflectance [19] > 90 % Stirling Engine Type Double-Acting Working Gas Helium/ Nitrogen/ Air Max. Expansion gas 600 C (+/- 5 C) temp Compression space gas 40 80 C (+/- 5 C) temp Thermal Efficiency 40 % Power Control Variable Pressure Engine Weight 300 kg * No. of Cylinders 4 Means Pressure 0.25, 0.5, 0.7, 0.9 MPa Maximum Pressure 2.5 Mpa Engine Displacement, 1300 x 4 cc. Bore, mm. 150 Stroke, mm. 50 Speed, rpm 500 - 1500 Cooling type Oil Cooling Output Power 10.5 kW Max Solar Insolation 1000 W/ m2 ** Min Solar Insolation 200 W/ m2 Target Peak Efficiency 20% Tracking System Tracking System H-Bridge 2 axis Power to Track 0.746 kW x 2 Speed Control Mitsubishi Inverter Gear Ratio 1:7200 Motor speed 900 rpm 18

Generator Type Asynchronous alternator Voltage 3 380 V 50 Hz Poles 6 R.P.M 900 Efficiency 95% Power Generate 10 kW * Excludes PCU and mounting facilities ** Designed value Table 11 shows the design target characteristics of Siam Solar Dish Stirling 10 kW and Table 13 shows part of materials used to make the Stirling Engine, Prototype. After construct this system the tested result will use to compare with these characteristics. The author hopes the test results will close to this design data approx 85 %. The system now still under test and wait for final setp. Table 12. System Characteristics and Specifications of ADDS Characteristics and Specifications Mod 1 Overall Diameter (m) 8.8 Focus (m) 5.448 Mirror projected area (m2) 64 Elevation Tracking range -20 to 84 degrees Elevation & Azimuth Drive Speed 38 degrees/min Tracking structure weight 1,275 kg Pedestal & Azimuth Drive Assy. 831 kg SOLO 161 Weight 455 kg* Foundation and (aperture) weight 3,320 kg (71.55 kg/m2) Operation Wind Up to 56 km/hr Operating Temperature Range -29 C to 50 C Operating Humidity 100 % Survival Wind any dish Attitude Up to 80.5 km/hr Survival Wind at stow position Up to 145 km/hr Survival humidity 100 % Site conditions Windy, Rain, Hot * Includes PCU and mounting facilities. Source: The Advanced Dish Development System Project, Proceeding of Solar Forum 2001, Solar Energy, April 21-25, 2001, Washington, DC.

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Part Materials Table 13. Part Materials Material Reason to choose Type Aluminum Light weight, easy to machine, low price Synthetic Stronger, Withstand friction, low price Rubber Arc chrome Hardened, Withstand friction, reasonable Steel Price Stainless No Rust, High Pressure, easy to machine, low price Steel Easy to machine, very low price Steel Easy to machine, very low price, strong Steel Easy to machine, very low price, strong Bronze Good heat transfer, reasonable price Stainless High Temperature, easy to machine, low price Stainless High Temperature, easy to machine, low price Bronze High Temperature, good lubricate with out oil Stainless High Temperature, easy to find, low price Stainless High Temperature, easy to find, low price Stainless Synthetic Rubber Steel High Temperature, easy to find, low price Stronger, Withstand friction, low price Good mass, easy to find, low price

Descriptions Power Piston Power Piston Seal Piston Rod Power Piston Housing Engine Base Swash Plate Engine Shaft Cooler Displacer end Displacer Displacer seal Regenerator Displacer Housing Heater Piston Rod Seal Fly Wheel

Table 14. Polycrystalline Module Specification Model PV- MF120EC3 Cell Type Polycrystalline silicon 150 mm square No. of Cell 36 in series Maximum power rating Pmax 120 W Open circuit voltage Voc 22.0 V Short circuit current Isc 7.36 A Maximum power voltage Vmp 17.6 V Maximum power current Imp 6.82 A Maximum system voltage DC 780 V Fuse rating 15 A Output terminal Terminal block Dimensions 1425x608x56 mm Weight 11.5 kg Source: Mitsubishi [18]

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Figure 17. MIRO- SUN % total reflection Source: MIRO- SUN [19] SUMMARY AND CONCLUSIONS The Siam Solar Dish System (SSDS) was designed to meet Thailand weather environment, such as: humidity, solar insolation, soft land, and wind load, etc. The construction cost, maintenance cost, interest rate, inflation rate, and its related operating cost, used in the calculation work in this research project, were based on the researchers experience, together with the general normal practical construction facts and figures used by contractors in Thailand. The author of this research design project has performed the calculation work on the parabolic structure, delta truss column support and delta truss ring, geodesic dome, thin shell reflector thickness and foundation, specially, designed for soft land country, including the calculation work on the Stirling engine system by himself. The mechanical structure and the engine were fabricated by Don Bosco Technical School under the authors supervision. The author and his staff have managed the erection and installation work of the system at Naraesuan University Thailand to compare with the PV system at the same location. The author also designs and assemblies the circuit of solar tracker and sensor including the tracker drive mechanism by himself. The system is now under testing for reliability and endurance. Figure 10 shows the test of Stirling engine 10 kW with 4 x 5 kW electric heaters and used the standard from ADDS [1] as shown in Table 12, which had the same capacity 10 kW, design their system with solar insolation 1,000 W/m2 to compare with author engine. It predicts that author engine should have the power output 17 kW at 1,000 W/m2. In table 11, Design Target Characteristics of Siam Solar Dish show the peak efficiency 20% at max solar insolation 1,000 W/ m2 and min solar insolation 200 W/ m2. As Thailand has poor insolation level, the engine can be started at 250 W/ m2 to 555 W/ m2, actual output power varying from 2.8 to 8.2 kW. The target efficiency value of this engine from table 11 is 20 %. This test value based on electric heater, as the calibration of the engine and ADDS standard. For the real solar test is under the process and expect to have the efficiency around 20%. It could be drawn to conclusion that Thailand solar insolation level can work well with both systems. Solar dish will however use less collector area than PV for a half to produce the same output power. The initial construction cost of solar cell is much more than solar dish system. The cost of electricity for solar cell is much more than solar dish by two times. With battery it can make solar dish system operate at night with out using other fossil fuel, so the system will be zero percent pollution emission. The author in this project had found that the technology could be optimized, if there is the well design of Solar Dish Stirling Generator by matching with the criterion of the end users. It can be reduced cost, increased performance, high endurance, easy to operate and minimum 21

maintenance. Local materials that can find easily in Thailand would induce the world to adopt the Solar Dish Stirling Power Plant faster than their expected. ACKNOWLEDGMENTS This research was prepared by Mr. Suravut SNIDVONGS, Vice President, Asian Renewable Energy Development and Promotion Foundation, EIT member, a PhD Student, School of Renewable Energy Technology, Naraesuan University, Pitsanulok, Thailand. The author would like to acknowledge the assistance and guidance of Asian Renewable Energy Development and Promotion Foundation Dr. Sub.Lt. Prapas Limpabandhu Deputy Minister of Foreign Affair, Mr. Sutas AROONPAIROJ and staffs, the Engineering Institute of Thailand members who provided a critical review of this research through its various stages, including Dr. Chavalit THISAYAKORN IEEE Valued Senior Member, and EIT Fellow member and her EE Chief Director, and the Naraesuan University Staffs, especially the Don Bosco Technical School staffs for their fabrication and construction work on the prototype. Finally, the author would like to thank the numerous industries to provide information for this research. REFERENCES [1] Richard B. Diver The Advanced Dish Development System Project, Proceeding of Solar Forum 2001, Solar Energy, April 21-25, 2001, Washington, DC. Page 2. [2] A. Chitapanya, Economy of Thailand, Annual report, Bank of Thailand, Oct 30, 2004. [3] V. Vannasorn, The report of Stirling Engine 10 kW, Asian Renewable Energy Development and Promotion Foundation , Bangkok, Thailand, Nov 4, 2004. [4] S. Toowattana, Thailands electricity demand in the future conferences, Electrical Generating of Thailand. May 3, 2004. p20. [5] S. Toowattana, Thailands electricity demand in the future conferences, Electrical Generating of Thailand. May 3, 2004. p35. [6] The U.S. Department of Energy and the Electric Power Research Institute (EPRI), Renewable Energy Technology Characterization (Topical Report 109496,1997;http://www.eere.energy.gov/power/pdfs/techchar.pdf), p. 1-5. [7] Solar Electric Power Association (SEPA), Solar Power Solutions: A Business Case for capturing Total Value(2002;http://www.resourcesaver.com/file/toolmanager/O63F 30134.pdf), p. 11. [8] Meteorological Station, Energy Laboratory, Asian Institute of Technology, Thailand. [9] BP Solar, Solar Science, http://www.bpsolar.com/ContentPage.cfm?page=15;2002 (July 2003). [10] K. Zweibel, Thin Films, Past Present and Future, http://www.nrel.gov/ncpv/documents /thinfilm.html; 1997/4 (16 July 2003). [11] T. Bruton et. al,Toward 20% Efficient Silicon Solar Cells Manufatured at 60MWp per Annum, http://www.bpsolar.com/ContentDocuments/154/4pl-e1-01.pdf ; paper presented at WCPEC-3, 16 May 2003 [BP Solar]. [12] The Energy Information Administration, Energy in the United States: 1635-2000: Electricity, http://www.eia.doe.gov/emeu/aer/eh/frame.html (16 July 2003). [13] Rachel Waldemar, A proposal to generate 50 % of the United States electricity needs from solar power by the year 2100, Energy and Material Flows in Human Society. Page 4. [14] SunLab, SAND2001-2530P, August 2001.p 2. [15] Markets of Concentration Solar Power, Concentrating Solar Power Technology Studies and Project Cost, Sun Lab DOE/GO-10098-563, April 1998. [16] Frequently Asked Question about Solar Cell, NSTDA, Third Published 2004. [17] W. Peter Teagan, PhD, Review Status of Markets for Solar Thermal Power Systems, May 2001. page B-52. [18] Mitsubishi PV Module PV-MF120EC3, Mitsubishi Electric.htm, Jan, 2005. 22

[19] MIRO SUN Specification, (2002), MIROSUN Corp., Germany. [20] Suravut SNIDVONGS, The Design and Implementation of Small Solar Thermal Dish Stirling Power Plant 10 kW with lead acid battery storage in Thailand. 12 th Solar Paces International Symposium, oxaca, Mexico, 6 to 8 October, 2004, p 9.

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