CollFieldEff+ – Modeling of thermal power output of large collector arrays and development of an in situ collector array test method

The topic of the industrial PhD project CollFieldEff⁺ is modeling and characterization of the thermal power output of collector arrays with covered flat plate collectors.

The methodological approach is firstly the development of collector array models for fully dynamic operating conditions, and secondly the development of an in-situ test for collector arrays to characterize the behavior of the collectors based on measured operating data. This in-situ test can also be carried out with measurement equipment as it is commonly deployed in large-scale solar thermal plants.

An important building block is a detailed modeling of the incident irradiance. The radiation algorithm which was developed in the PhD project allows the calculation of the diffuse and direct irradiance on the collectors as well as the calculation of the global horizontal irradiance (to be used for radiation prediction), based on single sensor measurements of the global tilted irradiance.

The developed methods improve monitoring, optimization and simulation of the thermal power output and yield of solar thermal systems, boosting the planning and operational reliability and the competitiveness of the technology. As the grey-box modeling approach describes dynamic processes in the collector array with high accuracy, a promising field of future applications is modeled-based (predictive) control of large-scale solar thermal plants.

Publications

Tschopp, D., Tian, Z., Berberich, M., Fan, J., Perers, B., & Furbo, S. (2020). Large-scale solar thermal systems in leading countries: A review and comparative study of Denmark, China, Germany and Austria. Applied Energy, 270, 114997. DOI: 10.1016/j.apenergy.2020.114997

Fahr, S., Tschopp, D., Nielsen, J.E., Kramer, K., & Ohnewein, P. (2020). Review of in situ Test Methods for Solar Thermal Installations. Proceedings of SWC 2019/SHC 2019, Santiago de Chile: International Solar Energy Society, 1-10. DOI: 10.18086/swc.2019.06.02

Tschopp, D., Ohnewein, P., Hausner, R., & Rohringer, C. (2017). In-situ Testing of Large Collector Arrays – Challenges and Methodological Framework. Proceedings of SWC 2017/SHC 2017, Abu Dhabi: International Solar Energy Society, 1-10. DOI: 10.18086/swc.2017.36.03