Parabolic Trough Concentrating Solar Power plants (PT-CSP) technology has the capability to give, in the mean future, a strong contribution to the electrical energy generation. In the long term, inside a new framework of relationships concerning energy production, many aspects would justify a significant contribution to the phase out of fossil sources use.
The paper concerns about a theoretical modeling aimed at improving the performances of CSP which approaches the energy generation from a system point of view. Thanks to it, the attention is focused on the use of gases as heat transfer fluid inside the solar receivers and on the possibility to use it as working fluid inside unconventional gas turbines for a direct electricity generation.
The success of this concept is related to the possibility to increase the fluid temperature above the actual maximum values: this requires that the receiver efficiency has to be recalculated as a function of the fluid temperature.
An innovative integration between the solar field and the gas turbine power plant, modified in order to maximize thermal energy conversion, is discussed.
