Experimental Studies on Small Scale of Solar Updraft Power Plant

Abstract

Solar updraft tower power plant (SUTPP) is an alternative technology for electricity generating from solar energy. It’s suitable for use in remote area, where there is high potential of solar radiation, because the constructions are cheap and the technologies involved are conventional. This paper presents the design of a circular and square collector SUTPP to be used in rural areas of developing countries. The design involves heating air using solar energy and the tower effect to raise the hot air up the tower. From this study, a small scale solar updraft tower with 2m length in each side of solar collector, air inlet height of 0.1 m above the ground, an updraft tower of 1.5-meter-high with 2.0 m length of each side collector was studied to determine its performance. Anemometer and
multimeter were used to measure the velocity and temperature along the collector and inside the tower. Solar radiation, ambient air temperature as well as air velocity inside the tower were also recorded. These data were taken every one hours in four days to investigate the performance of the SUTPP.