CENTRE

FOR SUSTAINABLE

ENERGY SYSTEMS

Combined Heat and Power Solar (CHAPS)

CHAPS systems convert solar radiation to both electrical energy and heat energy simultaneously. The system may also be configured to produce electricity or heat separately. A CHAPS system produces approximately 20 30 suns concentration on the receiver by means of a mirrored parabolic trough which tracks the sun throughout the day. The receiver comprises high efficiency photovoltaic cells and a heat pipe. Because of the dual nature of the energy usage the overall conversion efficiency is higher than solar electric and solar thermal systems separately. A combined efficiency of approximately 70% is expected.

The System
Parabolic trough mirrors Receiver System control Galvanised steel mirror support frame Tracking mechanism Water storage Power conditioning Electrical and plumbing installation Project management Roof or ground mounting Heat dump radiator (to shed any excess energy)
receiver with pv cells under and heat pipe behind direct solar radiation concentrated onto receiver hot water and electrical output water storage cold water return to space heating and domestic hot water

cable around pulley motor drive for actuator electrical output actuator mirrored parabolic trough heat dump radiator electricity grid electrical

system control and power conditioning

cold water return

System Configuration
CHAPS collectors can be configured to produce both electricity and hot water, electricity only (for example as a fuel saver for mini diesel grids) or hot water / steam only. The collectors can power absorption chillers for air conditioning, drive desalination plants, or simply produce hot water for heating and domestic use.

The Receiver

80 mm casing

Extruded aluminium housing by external contractors. Concentrator solar cells by CSES. Other receiver components by external suppliers. Receiver fabrication by CSES, but can be transferred to external contractors.

70 mm

integrally extruded hot water conduit

cavity filled with a 2 part electrically isolating, but heat conducting polymer

encapsulation direct solar radiation

solar cell

Performance and Cost

Performance depends on location as it relies on direct solar radiation. A 24 m long trough in Alice Springs will perform 80% better than the same trough in Melbourne. The efficiency of the collectors is equivalent to the best commercial PV and solar water heating collectors available occupying half the space. City Adelaide Alice Springs Canberra Melbourne Annual electrical output (MWh) 8 10 7 6 Annual thermal output (MWh) 39 49 38 27

Costs are available on request and are presently based on manufacturing techniques used at ANU. It is expected that costs will come down sharply with commercial production.

The package provided by ANU includes the collector (mirrors, receivers, cooling fins, supporting frame and tracking mechanism), a failsafe battery back up system for the tracking and installation. Balance of system components (inverter, wiring and other electrical components, thermal storage, heat exchanger, pipe work, valves and fittings, data logging equipment, roof or ground mounting plates) and installation are not provided by CSES.

Installation
Practically all system components can be sourced local to the installation site. To enable this, CSES can transfer technology to an industry partner. Installation can be carried out by local contractors. A project consortium will include: project management (including engineering personnel), metal fabrication, electrical and plumbing contractors, mirror supplier, solar cell supplier, insulation supplier and electrical and plumbing system component suppliers.

Contacting CSES

Installed valves, pipes, cables and heat sink under CHAPS troughs

See http://solar@anu.edu.au for further details, a list of current projects, media releases and papers presented at national and international conferences. Email CSES at solar@anu.edu.au or Ph +61 2 6125 4884 Fax +61 2 6125 8873 Mail Centre for Sustainable Energy Systems, Faculty of Engineering and Information Technology, The Australian National University, CANBERRA ACT 0200 Australia