Techno-economic Assessment of Hybrid Photovoltaic/Solar Thermal Power Plants: Modeling and Potential for Synergies

In this master thesis a hybrid photovoltaic / solar thermal power plant was modeled for a high irradiance location. The selected location was Chile’s northern region. For the evaluation the software greenius was used, a program being continuously developed at DLR since 1999. This program did not possess a storage function for PV simulations. Therefore one of the aims of this thesis was firstly to analyze the accuracy of the PV model and subsequently develop and implement a battery model to evaluate the financial viability of standalone PV systems. For this reason the greenius model was compared with PVWatts and PVSyst photovoltaic models. Additionally, an electric storage element based on a charge balance model was implemented in the system. This model proved to accurately depict the performance of batteries without the need for many parameters. The second aim of this thesis was to optimize and evaluate the financial feasibility of hybrid power plants with a high capacity factor (> 90%). The designed plants were based on the published specifications of Cerro Dominador, Chile for two main reasons. On one hand, this is going to be the first hybrid PV/CSP plant to be commissioned in South America (2019). Therefore it is going to be the benchmark for hybrid solar power plants in the future. On the other hand, Chile’s climate is perfect for solar projects. Thus it was important to assess the profitability of a sample plant in this region for future projects to be developed. The calculations were performed with the latest PV benchmark costs of 2017, which have decreased by 21% compared to 2016. The results showed that hybrid solar plants are more cost-efficient for base-load electricity supply than standalone CSP plants in high-irradiance regions. Photovoltaic power plants with battery storage can be competitive starting 2032