A geospatial comparative analysis of solar thermal concentrating power systems in Greece

Solar concentrating power is an important weapon for facing the energy crisis and environmental issues. Greece is a country with great solar potential and thus it is an ideal candidate for the development of important solar concentrating power plants. These plants present the advantage of easy energy storage with thermal storage tanks, something beneficial for the production of a relatively stable electricity production profile, something critical for the further development of renewable energy systems. The objective of the present work is the detailed investigation of the solar concentrating technologies in different Greek locations in order to define in which locations solar concentrating power is a promising solution. Moreover, three typical solar concentrating technologies are studied and more specifically the parabolic trough collector (PTC), the linear Fresnel reflector (LFR) and the solar DISH. Thirteen different Greek regions are investigated by using hourly weather data from the typical meteorological year (TMY). The solar potential, the available irradiation, the useful heat production, the electricity production and the exergy production, as well as the respective efficiency indexes and the levelized cost of electricity (LCOE), are calculated. It is important to highlight that this study is focused on the systems of small capacity which are ideal for distributed renewable power production. It was concluded that the most efficient and economically feasible technology is the solar DISH, with the PTC to follow and LFR to be the last choice. Moreover, southern Greece is found to be a better choice for the installation of solar-concentrating power plants compared to northern Greece. More specifically, in the Southern Aegean Sea, it was calculated that the specific electricity production is 253.0 kWh/m² with PTC, 160.7 kWh/m² with LFR and 296.8 kWh/m² with DISH, while the LCOE at 0.0882 €/kWh with PTC, 0.1046 €/kWh with LFR and 0.0843 €/kWh with DISH.