1. IV th International Conference on
Advances in Energy Research
BITS Pilani
Pilani Campus
Indian Institute of Technology
Bombay, Mumbai
10 December 2013

2. BITS Pilani
Pilani Campus
Techno-Economic Parametric Assessment of
CSP Power Generations Technologies in India
Nikhil Gakkhar1, Dr. Manoj S. Soni2
1Center for Renewable Energy and Environment Development (CREED), BITS –Pilani, Rajasthan
2Assistant Professor, Department of Mechanical Engineering, BITS –Pilani, Rajasthan

3. Introduction
• Solar energy: Clean technology for producing
energy.
• Need of solar energy
• Indian Conditions
• Emission less technology
• Solar Power generation technologies
• Solar photovoltaic (SPV)
• Concentrating Solar power systems (CSP)
ICAER 2013, IIT - Bombay
BITS Pilani, Pilani Campus

4. Solar Technologies
(CSP)
Parabolic Trough
Solar Tower
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5. Continued
Dish concentrator
Linear Fresnel
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6. Status of solar power in India*
Cumulative Capacity (in MW)
2500
2079.97
1968.84
2000
1759.44
1500
1236.48
1044.16
1045.16
941.28
1000
781.48
500
9.13 10.28 12.28 17.82 17.82 37.66 39.66
120
0
Duration
Source: MNRE (As of October 2013)
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* Only Solar Photovoltaic
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7. Literature Review
• National Renewable Energy Laboratories (NREL)
• Vogel, W., & Kalb, H. (2010). Large-scale solar thermal
power: technologies, costs and development. Wiley.
com.
• Sargent and Lundy (2003). LLC: Consulting Group
Chicago “Assessment of Parabolic Trough and Power
Tower Solar Technology Cost and Performance
Forecasts”. National Renewable Energy Laboratory.
• World Institute of Sustainable Energy (WISE) Pune
• Purohit, I. & Purohit, P. (2010). Techno-economic
evaluation of concentrating solar power generation in
India. Energy Policy, 38(6), 3015-3029
ICAER 2013, IIT - Bombay
BITS Pilani, Pilani Campus

8. Research Methodology
• Selection of Parameters
•
•
The parameters were identified from literature.
These parameters were then categorized into two category viz. economic
parameters and technical parameters.
• Survey Design
•
•
•
Questionnaire was designed for evaluation of different parameters.
Structured questionnaires were prepared, tested, validated, modified and opinion
was collected from experts through web base survey.
The experts were asked to assign importance of the parameters on a 10 point
qualitative linear scale.
• Computational of weightage
•
Weighted average values have been computed for importance of parameters on
10 point scale.
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9. Parameters
Economic Parameters
Parameter No
C1
C2
C3
C4
C5
C6
C7
C8
C9
C10
C11
C12
C13
C14
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Parameter
Direct Investment Cost
Indirect Cost
Operation and Maintenance Cost
Insurance Cost
Loan Interest Rate
Payback Period
Consideration of Inflation Rate
Net Salvage Value
Power Purchase Agreement
Auxiliary Cost
Taxes
Government Subsidies
Land Cost
REC Mechanism
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10. Parameters
Technical Parameters
Parameter No
T1
T2
T3
T4
T5
T6
T7
T8
T9
T10
T11
T12
T13
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Parameter
Location
Capacity Utilization Factor of Plant
Tracking
Solar Multiple value
Need of Lightning arrest for CSP
Annual Efficiency of the plant
Solar Field
Operating Temperatures
Solar resource assessment
Access to roads
Washes/Cleanliness of Mirrors
Area of Collector and absorber
Grid Connectivity
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11. Parameters
Technical Parameters
Parameter No
T14
T15
T16
T17
T18
T19
T20
T21
T22
T23
T24
T25
T14
T15
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Parameter
Hours of Full load operations
Impact of local climate
Local O&M support
Type of CSP technologies
Thermal Storage
Heat Transfer Fluid (HTF)
Easy availability of Water
Losses in CSP
Mirror/Heliostat properties
Materials used
Module mounting structure
Need of Fire Alarm systems
Hours of Full load operations
Impact of local climate
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12. Purpose of Survey
• To know the importance of all the identified parameters
for difference solar power generation technologies.
• To compare the prioritization according to different user
level.
• To identify the barriers for solar technologies and ways to
improve them.
• To correlate the available solar technologies in Indian
scenario.
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13. Responses
• 70 suitable responses
10%
Professionals
39%
17%
Researchers
Educators
Miscellaneous
34%
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14. Analysis of Survey
Normalized Weightage: Economical Parameters
Parameters
Professional
Researcher
Educator
Miscellaneous
Overall
C1
C2
C3
C4
C5
C6
C7
C8
C9
C10
C11
C12
C13
C14
0.0304
0.0232
0.0216
0.0185
0.0260
0.0289
0.0201
0.0181
0.0294
0.0235
0.0214
0.0245
0.0224
0.0248
0.0304
0.0248
0.0230
0.0183
0.0236
0.0263
0.0204
0.0207
0.0254
0.0236
0.0222
0.0275
0.0245
0.0262
0.0313
0.0232
0.0226
0.0197
0.0209
0.0290
0.0226
0.0174
0.0261
0.0226
0.0209
0.0284
0.0203
0.0261
0.0330
0.0224
0.0181
0.0181
0.0256
0.0309
0.0224
0.0192
0.0277
0.0224
0.0170
0.0330
0.0256
0.0287
0.0308
0.0237
0.0220
0.0187
0.0243
0.0282
0.0208
0.0189
0.0273
0.0233
0.0212
0.0270
0.0231
0.0260
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15. Analysis of Survey
Normalized Weightage: Technical Parameters
Parameters
Professional
Researcher
Educator
Miscellaneous
Overall
T1
T2
T3
T4
T5
T6
T7
T8
T9
T10
T11
T12
T13
0.0312
0.0299
0.0263
0.0253
0.0260
0.0289
0.0271
0.0273
0.0294
0.0216
0.0271
0.0266
0.0286
0.0331
0.0301
0.0263
0.0292
0.0260
0.0263
0.0254
0.0257
0.0292
0.0213
0.0236
0.0269
0.0260
0.0290
0.0273
0.0250
0.0267
0.0261
0.0290
0.0261
0.0267
0.0307
0.0226
0.0267
0.0290
0.0284
0.0298
0.0298
0.0298
0.0256
0.0213
0.0277
0.0266
0.0245
0.0277
0.0202
0.0256
0.0287
0.0330
0.0313
0.0295
0.0264
0.0269
0.0256
0.0279
0.0263
0.0264
0.0294
0.0215
0.0257
0.0273
0.0281
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16. Contd…
Parameters
Professional
Researcher
Educator
Miscellaneous
Overall
T14
T15
T16
T17
T18
T19
T20
T21
T22
T23
T24
T25
0.0271
0.0272
0.0239
0.0304
0.0263
0.0263
0.0266
0.0258
0.0268
0.0268
0.0242
0.0206
0.0266
0.0238
0.0238
0.0310
0.0307
0.0269
0.0254
0.0254
0.0269
0.0278
0.0245
0.0210
0.0273
0.0255
0.0238
0.0296
0.0273
0.0284
0.0267
0.0255
0.0261
0.0284
0.0232
0.0238
0.0266
0.0234
0.0202
0.0319
0.0287
0.0266
0.0266
0.0256
0.0256
0.0224
0.0266
0.0213
0.0269
0.0252
0.0234
0.0306
0.0282
0.0269
0.0262
0.0256
0.0266
0.0270
0.0244
0.0214
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17. Results and Discussion
• In overall scenario of economic criteria, direct investment cost
(0.0308) is given the highest priority followed by payback
period (0.0282) and power purchase agreement (0.0273).
• It is also observed that inflation rate (0.0208), net salvage
value (0.0189) and insurance cost (0.0187) have lowest
importance level.
• In overall case of technical parameters, Location (0.0313) has
got highest preference followed by the type of CSP
technology used (0.306).
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BITS Pilani, Pilani Campus

18. Results and Discussion
• The CUF (0.0295), solar resource assessment (0.0294) and
thermal storage (0.0282) are given higher preference than
other parameters. Location is preferred commonly by
professional (0.312) and researchers (0.0331).
• The parameters like module mounting structure (0.0244),
local O&M support (0.0234) and access to road (0.0215) are
less preferred.
• The need of fire alarm system (0.0214) is unanimously least
preferred by all the respondents.
• It is also observed that educators preferred solar resource
assessment (0.0307) more than location of the site (0.0290).
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19. Economic parameters preferences
C1
C14
0.035
C2
0.030
C13
C3
0.025
0.020
C12
C4
0.015
C11
C5
C10
Professional
Researcher
Educator
Misc
C6
C9
C7
C8
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20. Technical parameters
preferences
T1
T250.035
T2
T24
T23
T3
T4
0.030
T22
T5
0.025
T21
T6
0.020
T20
T7
0.015
Researcher
T19
T8
T18
T9
T17
Educator
Misc
T10
T16
T11
T15
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Professional
T14
T13
T12
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21. Conclusion
• The current work discusses the parameters required for
commissioning of CSP plants in India.
• It is observed from the analysis that the economic parameter like
direct investment cost are highly preferred by the respondents
• In the case of technical parameters, location of the site has been
given the highest preference by professionals
• Educators preferred solar resource assessment of the site over
other technical parameters.
• The insurance cost and need of fire alarm system are least preferred
parameters in economic and technical criteria, respectively
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22. Conclusion
Summary
Professionals
1st Pref. Direct Cost
Researchers
Educators
Direct Cost
Misc
Overall
Direct Cost
Direct Cost &
Subsidies
Payback period Payback period
Direct Cost
PPA
Subsidies
Net salvage
value
Insurance cost
Net salvage
value
Taxes
Insurance
cost
1st Pref. Location
Location
Type of CSP
used
Type of CSP
used
Grid
Connectivity
Type of CSP
used
Location
2nd
Pref.
Solar resource
assessment
Type of CSP
used
Last
Pref.
Technical
Parameters
2nd
Pref.
Last
Pref.
Economic
Parameters
Need of fire
alarm system
Need of fire
alarm system
Access to
roads
Access to roads
& Local O&M
Access to
roads
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Payback
period
Type of
CSP used
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23. References
[1] Pillai IR, Banerjee R. Renewable energy in India: Status and potential. Energy 2009; 34:970–980.
[2] Ministry of New and Renewable Energy (MNRE). JNNSM current status. Available online < http://mnre.gov.in/filemanager/UserFiles/commissioning_status_spv_batch1_phase1.pdf> [Accessed 25.11.2012]
[3] Peter Cameron and Glenn Crompton, 'Solar Power Plant Pre-feasibility Study' Report by Parsons Brinckerhoff
Australia, 2008
[4] Vogel W and Kalb H. Large-Scale Solar Thermal Power: Technologies, Costs and Development. Weinheim: Wiley
VCH, 2010.
[5] Sargent & Lundy LLC Consulting Group, 2003. Assessment of parabolic trough and power tower solar technology
cost and performance forecasts. Subcontractor Report, Chicago, IL. <http://www.nrel.gov/csp/pdfs/34440.pdf>
[Accessed 10.10.2012]
[6] Achieving 12% Green Electricity by 2017, Final Report, Prepared by World Institute of Sustainable Energy, Pune,
June 2011
[7] Purohit I, Purohit P. Techno-economic evaluation of concentrating solar power generation in India. Energy Policy.
2010; 38: 3015-3029.
[8] Solar handbook: Bridge to India, Final Report. <http://bridgetoindia.com/our-reports/the-india-solar-handbook>
[accessed 8.11.2012]
[9] Sharma, N.K., Tiwari, P.K., and Sood, Y.R. (2012) Solar energy in India: Strategies, policies, perspectives and future
potential, Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, 16, pp. 933-941.
[10] Ummadisingu, A. and Soni, M.S. (2011) Concentrating solar power–Technology, potential and policy in India,
Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, 15(9) pp. 5169-5175.
[11] Tripathy, A.K. (2012) Three decades of Renewable. Akshay Urja Magazine, MNRE India, January, 10-13.
[12] Beerbaum, S. and Weinrebe, G. (2000) Solar thermal power generation in India – a techno - economic analysis,
Renewable Energy, 21, pp. 153-174.
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24. Thank You
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