Modular Units for Solar Electricity Large Scale using Natural Convection
Summary
A configuration is suggested where a large area solar collector provides a flow of warm air into and through a large volume warm air store. The height and elevated temperature of the latter creates a buoyancy force which draws ambient air through the configuration. Incoming air is required to flow through a convergent-divergent nozzle where a turbine is placed in the throat of the nozzle. By narrowing the throat of the nozzle, the kinetic energy of the air flow through the turbine can represent a large proportion of the solar energy absorbed. A solar module is described with a 200 x 200m solar collector devised to harness solar energy with 50% overall efficiency that would generate up to 15 Megawatts electricity at maximum insolation. Such units could be built on desert/scrub land at a density of 15-20 per square kilometer. The ideas are theoretical only. No experimental work has been conducted.