Grid Connected CSP-ORC plants for residential application

In this paper the thermodynamic and electrical optimization of small power Concentrated Solar Power plants is presented. The plant is based on an Organic Rankine Cycle working with thermal oil as primary fluid. This study is part of Italian Research project “ Themodynamic Solar Plants in Urban Areas” aimed to develop small scale CSP plants to be installed on buildings roofs in residential areas or on factory sheds, in order to not subtract land to farming. Case studies were performed for capture surfaces of about 100 square meters and electric power output of approximately equal to 10 kWe. Through thermodynamic optimizations, results were compared in terms of global electric efficiency with the same electrical power, by varying the working fluid in the power circuit. For what concerns the solar circuit it has been considered composed of parabolic through concentrators. Electric design has been oriented to grid connected application. Results show good chances for this power target plants to diffusion in next decades.