Eskom Chair of CSP
at
Stellenbosch University
Prof. Dr.-Ing. Frank Dinter
27 August 2013
Fakulteit Ingenieurswese

Faculty of Engineering
2
Existing knowledge on Solar Thermal Energy
Prof. Dr.-Eng. Frank Dinter since June 2013 in STERG
• Former Technical Director of Andasol 3, Spain
and Head of Solar at RWE Innogy, Germany
Andasol 3: Facts & Figures
 Owner: Marquesado Solar S.L.
Location: Aldeire/La Calahorra (Granada, Spain)
 Capacity: 50 MWel
~200 GWh/a
 Commissioning in autumn 2011
Forecasted electricity production:
Annual CO2 savings: 150,000 tonnes
 Size of the collector area: ~ 500,000 m²
 Technology: Parabolic trough incl. 7.5h molten salt storage
3
Existing knowledge on Solar Thermal Energy
Dispatch-able Energy
The main advantage of CSP technology against other RES as PV or wind
power is the capability to provide dispatch-able power by storing solar
energy through thermal energy storage
Flexible and
predictable
electricity
generation
Source: DLR
4
Solar thermal history at SU
1980 - 1989
1990 - 1999
2000 – 2009
First Parabolic Trough Research
2010 -
Research and academic
committee representative
National SANERI/DST
RE centre founded
Dry cooling research at SU commences
SANERI/DST Solar
thermal spoke
& Hope project
SOLAR THERMAL ENERGY
RESEARCH GROUP
Sasol researcher
Solar resource station at SU
Solar chimney research at SU commences
Solar roof lab commissioned
5
STERG acceleration
2010
7 – 15 people
2011
~ 30 people
2012
~ 45 people
2013 –
~ 60 (75) people
Eskom chair and
centre of excellence
NRF solar thermal
spoke 2013 - 17
SOLAR THERMAL ENERGY
RESEARCH GROUP
Sasol 40 m2
heliostat field
Solar roof lab expansion (with
tower, kiln, etc)
Solar resource station at SU
6
STERG infrastructure & resources
• Staff: 8+ (Eskom/Sasol researchers, administrative,
engineering and technical support)
• 1,000 m2 solar roof laboratory, staff office, workshop &
control room
• 18 m lattice tower (multi-use)
• 600 °C,1.5 m3 packed bed storage rig & 1,200 °C kiln
• Solar resource station with free web download (K&Z full
tracker and shadow ring)
• ADA Solar water heating test facility
• 25 kWe Eskom McDonnel Douglas Stirling Dish
• Key SW: TRNSYS, Matlab, Flownex, Fluent & open source.
• Primary Grants: DST/NRF solar thermal spoke, Sasol Sr
Researcher, Eskom Chair, SU Hope project, NRF THRIP.
7
STERG R&D overview
STERG – Solar Thermal Energy Research Group
Physical, Social, Mathematical, Political,
Engineering (ME, EE, others)
Statistical Sciences, Geography, Philosophy, etc.
Other
Better SWH |
Coal power
augmentation
| other…
Solar Resource
R&D
Satellite | Ground
SUNSTEL (SU Solar Thermal Electricity Project)
(Primary technologies: SUNSPOT, LFR, Dish)
System R&D
Systems analysis | Plant thermodynamic models |
Techno-economic analysis | Plant concepts & design
Dry Cooling
Dry | Hybrid |
Diurnal etc
Heat Transfer
Fluids & Storage
CO2 | Air | NaK | Salt |
Rock | Metal PCM
Italics: On-going R&D
Heliostats &
Receivers
Control | Drives | Optics
| Field | Heat Transfer
8
Strategic activities at STERG
STERG Group at SU
 A good base with own labs
 Moving forward by improving methods and understanding the
technology more deeply
 Growing networking in SA and worldwide
(SASTELA, SASEC, SolarPACES, DLR, Sandia, NREL, etc.)
 Reducing costs, increasing efficiency and reliability in CSP
technology
 Strengthening our relationship to CSIR
 Joining and enabling other SA universities in doing more CSP
R&D
 Supporting national solar R&D plans (roadmaps and centres)
 Contract R&D for clients and commercialization
9
Potential future strategic focus areas
Specific technology focus on:
 Central Receiver Systems with different Heat Transfer Fluids
(e.g. liquid salt, liquid metals and air)
 Parabolic Trough and Fresnel with liquid salt
 Thermal Energy Storage Systems with different HTF
 Component development in Solar fields
(Heliostats and Trough)
 Optimization on Balance of Plant
(Equipment and Process)
 Technical and economical evaluation of CSP technologies
10
Outlook
View to the world:
 SA is one of the best sun spots in the world
 Current situation in Europe and US gives SA a chance to catch
up
 CSP can deliver dispatch-able energy and support SA electricity
production reliably
 Creating new jobs for new talents for a CSP rollout in SA and
worldwide
 CSP awareness is improving in government
Thank you for your attention
www.sun.ac.za/STERG
e-mail: frankdinter@sun.ac.za