2. Solar Catcher™ system
is a concentrating solar
power Dish technology
equipped with a Brayton
Turbine special designed
for
medium
solar
insolation, soft‐land, hot
and humid country zone
such as Asia Zone.
Its mission is to build the most affordable, modular and
scalable solar solution in the industry for utility scale solar
power market.
Parabolic Dish systems use mirrors to focus the incident
light onto a single central receiver in front of the mirror. They
so far have the highest heat‐electricity conversion efficiencies
among all CSP designs up to 65 %.
The size of the concentrator is determined by its engine. A
dish/Brayton Turbine system’s concentrator with a nominal
direct solar insolation from 500‐1,000 W/m2 and a 2‐100 kWe
capacity has a diameter of approximately 3 to 20 meters.
It could also run on a single Rankine or Brayton cycle,
where water, or other gas is compressed, heated and
expanded into a turbine. Parabolic dish could be applied
individually in remote locations, or grouped.
For small‐grid (village power, 2 ‐ 10 KW) or end‐of‐line
utility (1 ‐ 100 MW) applications. The system had no thermal
delivery tubes so it is minimum thermal losses.
The electricity transmitted to the gird or storage in
Vanadium Batteries. Intermittent cloud cover can cause
weakening of highly concentrated receiver source flux.
Sensible energy storage in single‐phase materials was
proposed to allow a cylindrical absorber element not only
absorb the energy but also store it in its mass, thus
reducing the amplitude of cloud cover transients. Although
this design only allows short period energy storage.
It could equipped with Vanadium Battery or Thermal
Storage for longer operation time, 6, 12, 24 hrs.
Designed and developed
by Solar Space Frame
Industrial
Co.,
Ltd.
Thailand. Solar Catcher™,
CSP technology is a 2, 5,
10, 25, or 100 kWe
system.
The SFI, Solar Catcher™, achieved commercial deployment
in early 2013. It’s clean solar energy.
The Solar Catcher™ technology makes it possible for
large power facilities to provide clean, reliable, cost‐
effective and truly sustainable solar power to communities,
while addressing renewable energy portfolio targets, and
tackling global climate change by actively reducing our
planet’s carbon emissions.
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2
3. Investment Analysis
Technical specifications
Apeture area (net)
25
100 400
m2
Mean collector diameter
.3
1
2
m2
Focal Length
2.5
6.25
12
m2
Mean half‐rim angle
43.6
°
Number of mirror panels
100
400 1600
Mirror reflectivity
93
%
Actuation
Electrical Motor
Tracking
Elevation envelope
0 to +90
°
Azimuth envelope
+ or – 270
°
Pointing error
<= + or ‐ 2
mrad
Cut‐off wind speed
80
km/h
Sun position programme
open‐loop
Weight
Weight/aperture ratio
3
6
10 kg/m2
Generator Permanent Magnet
5
50
100 kW
Pressure
3
ATA
Turbine
Temperature
1200
°C
Mas Flow Rate
25
100 400 LPS
Condenser Air Cooled
Storage
Vanadium Battery or Molten Salt 6, 12, 18, 24 hrs
Controller 3 Phase Grid Connected Inverter
Reflector
Performance
Receiver Solar power intercepted
Solar power absorbed in absorbed
Equivalent heat rate fed to turbine
Gross electricity generated
Net power fed to the grid
Solar‐to‐electric conversion eff.
@
1,000.00
0.64
635.00
0.91
577.85
0.88
558.80
0.35
222.26
0.31
200.00
20.00
500.00 W/m2
317.50 Wrad
288.93 Wt
279.40 Wt
111.13 We
100.00 We
20.00 %
Solar Space Frame Industrial
1,000 W/m
System
Area
Sun Hour
Peak
Off Peak
Cost
Power
Hot Water
Electrical Cost
Base
Ft
Adder
Total
Income
Daily
Hot Water
Monthly
Yearly
Return
System Life
ROI
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2
Solar Cell
Solar Catcher
5.00
5.00
72.00
50.00
kW
Sq.m
4.00
11.00
hrs
13.00
hrs
100,000.00
200,000.00 THB/kW
500,000.00 1,000,000.00 THB
20.00
125.00 kWhr
93.75 kWhr
3.50
1.00
8.00
12.50
250.00
3.50 THB/kWhr
1.00 THB/kWhr
8.00 THB/kWhr
12.50 THB/kWhr
980.00
405.00
7,500.00
90,000.00
66.7
5.6
25
3.50
41,550.00
498,600.00
24.1
2.0
25
11.47
THB
THB
THB
THB
Month
Year
Year
%
3
4. Solar Catcher advance solar energy conversion
TM
• Solar CatcherTM is an advanced solar energy conversion system that
utilizes high efficiency Brayton cycle turbine.
• Energy storage for 24 hrs operation (Vanadium Battery or Molten Salt)
with exceptional efficiency and durability (optional added to Dish
Brayton).
• An advanced Power Conversion Unit with no mechanical wear and no
ancillary accessories such as lube or cooling systems.
• Overall net conversion efficiency > 30 %.
• Hybrid fuel option and dispatch able energy storage system.
• A zero‐maintenance turbine for 40,000 hrs of life.
• One moving part (turbine with alternator).
• Operates on non‐contacting air bearings.
• Requires no coolants or lubricants.
• Operates at moderate turbine temperatures and low stress levels.
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