IMPROVING THE PERFORMANCE OF CONCENTRATING PV BY EXPLOITING THE EXCESS HEAT THROUGH A LOW TEMPERATURE SUPERCRITICAL ORGANIC RANKINE CYCLE
The project “Improving the Performance of Concentrating PV by Exploiting the Excess Heat through a Low Temperature Supercritical Organic Rankine Cycle” deals with the development, design and experimental investigation of an integrated system, based on the concentrating photovoltaic (CPV) and supercritical organic Rankine cycle (ORC) technologies.
The proposed innovative concept deals with the conversion of the CPV/T heat to additional electricity through the Supercritical ORC (SCORC) process. SCORC is selected because enjoys better efficiencies at low temperatures in comparison to Subcritical ORC. This integrated CPV/T-SCORC system minimizes the temperature effect on the PV cells performance and improves the annual energy productivity (in kWh/kWp). In comparison to a flat PV system a performance improvement between 15-40% is anticipated, depending on the season, along with a more efficient heat transfer from the CPV/T system to the Rankine process (i.e. lower pinch point), due to the supercritical cycle.
The project duration is 24 months (start: January 2013) and is receiving funding from the European Union’s Seventh Framework Programme managed by REA-Research Executive Agency, http://ec.europa.eu/research/rea ([FP7/2007-2013] [FP7/2007-2011]) under grant agreement n° 315049 [CPV/RANKINE], FP7-SME-2012.
The project video has been released and can be viewed here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=beY0-bWz-IA&feature=youtu.be
NEWS
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Project successfully completed
- The project has been finalized. Tests continue to be implemented.
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Project video
- The official video of the project can be viewed here:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=beY0-bWz-IA&feature=youtu.be -
Progress
- The WP2 of the CPV/Rankine project has been successfully completed on time (in June 2013). The main conclusion concerns the improvement of the proposed combined configuration by around 16% (for the weather conditions of Athens, Greece), in comparison to a conventional CPV/T system.
- WP3 has been completed and the adapted collector has been tested, showing good performance and reliability.
- The performance tests of the SCORC engine have been implemented (WP4) at the laboratory. These tests have to do with the investigation of this engine under various operating conditions (variable heat input provided by an electric heater).
- The WP5 deals with the combined system design and installation, which then lead to the testing of this integrated system. The installation at the AUA premises has been finalized and the combined system has been tested.
- WP6 includes many demonstration and monitoring activities, in order to identify the system durability. Such activities have been finalized. The system will continue to be operated and tested even after the project end.
- The economic analysis and production planning have been examined and implemented during WP7.
- WP8 includes other activities, such as the project video, dissemination and exploitation plans, the Int. workshop that has been organized at AUA, etc. These have been successfully completed.
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3rd and final PROJECT MEETING
The third project meeting of the CPV/Rankine consortium took place in Agricultural University of Athens (AUA) in Greece on 12th December 2014.
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2nd PROJECT MEETING
The second project meeting of the CPV/Rankine consortium took place in Ghent University (UGENT) in Ghent, Belgium on 29th October 2013.
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SME’s COORDINATORS DAY 2013
The “SMEs Coordinators Day” by the Research Executive Agency (REA), took place in Brussels (13 June 2013). The presentations, containing information on the administrative and financial management of projects under the programme “Research for the benefit of SMEs”, can be found in http://ec.europa.eu/rea/
manage_your_project/sme/index_en.htm -
1ST PROJECT MEETING
The first project meeting of the CPV/Rankine consortium took place in Plataforma Solar de Almería (CIEMAT) in Almeria, Spain on 16-17th May 2013. A technical tour at the PSA facilities was offered during the first day.
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KICK-OFF MEETING
The first meeting of the project partners took place in the Agricultural University of Athens (AUA) on the 18th January 2013. Representatives from all partners participated in this meeting.
EVENTS
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International workshop
An International workshop took place at AUA (Athens, Greece) on the 11th of December 2014, presenting the developed technologies and disseminating the project. The workshop flyer and agenda can be found here .
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PV Conference 2014
The personnel of AUA participated in the PV Conference in September 2014 in Amsterdam, The Netherlands (http://www.photovoltaic-conference.com/). A common research work with Lumicum and Hellas Energy has been presented, while the project concept was promoted.
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Industrial Technologies 2014
The personnel of AUA participated in the Industrial Technologies 2014 Int. Conference on 9-11 April 2014 in Athens, Greece (http://www.industrialtechnologies2014.eu/). A research work was presented, disseminating the project concept within the research and industrial community.
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ASME ORC 2013
The personnel of AUA participated in the ASME ORC 2013 Int. Conference in October 2013 in Rotterdam, The Netherlands (http://www.asme-orc2013.nl/). An initial research work has been presented ( http://www.asme-orc2013.nl/uploads/File/PPT%20071.pdf ), while the project concept was promoted.
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PV Conference 2013
The personnel of AUA participated in the PV Conference in September-October 2013 in Paris, France (http://www.photovoltaic-conference.com/). An initial research work has been presented, while the project concept was promoted.