Solar Trough Integration Into Combined Cycle Systems

Parabolic trough solar technology has over 125 plant-years of successful operation at nine commercial Solar Electric Generating Systems (SEGS) power plants that are operating near Barstow, California. These solar plants utilize conventional steam Rankine turbine-generator systems, and as a result most people associate parabolic trough solar technology with steam Rankine cycle power plants. Although these plants are clearly optimized for their particular application, other power cycle designs may be appropriate in other situations. Of particular interest is the integration of parabolic trough solar technology with combined cycle power plant technology, a configuration called the integrated solar combined cycle system (ISCCS). Four potential projects in India, Egypt, Morocco, and Mexico are considering the ISSCS configuration. This paper compares the performance, cost, and carbon emissions of ISCCS and SEGS plants with a standard combined cycle plant.