Design of a Concentrated Pilot Solar Power Tower in Al Hussein Bin Talal University, Jordan

The price of concentrated solar power (CSP) has significantly dropped in the last five years, making it a viable option for the industrial sector in Jordan. Many studies investigated the best renewable techniques available in Jordan and concluded that CSP is considered the second option after the PV utility plants. In this study, a prototype of a concentrated solar power tower system (PT) was designed to produce electricity that meets the energy demand at AI-Hussein Bin Talal University (AHU), Jordan, with an energy capacity of 3 MW
e
. The theory section presents the design methodology to calculate the components of solar power tower plants. In addition, SolarPilotpackage was used to design, characterize, and optimize the concentrating solar power tower. This shows good agreement with the calculated model. The simulation results predict that the heliostats system and tower height size play a significant role in the optimization process.