Control-Oriented Concentrated Solar Power Plant Model

We model the dynamics of solar thermal plants-the first model covering all processes between market demand through power output at millisecond resolution-for the purpose of control design. Our model integrates solar reflectors, power tower, salt tank, boiler, turbine, generator, piping, and pumps along with the flows of energy and information between them. We show how our detailed model permits control designs that can potentially enhance the life of the power tower, and thereby aid in reducing generation costs of solar power to a level competitive to current electricity price. Our modeling also opens up several problems of control and optimization of concentrated solar power (CSP) plants that can quickly bring the maturity of CSPs near that of traditional coal-fired plants and aid their integration with the other power sources. We show some of this potential via simulations.