Solar Stirling Dish Power Generation Atlas of India.

In this article, an atlas of solar electricity potential of Stirling dish power generation system is presented. Important parameters needed for solar power generation modeling are direct solar insolation, ambient temperature, wind speed, concentrator aperture area, rim angle, mirror reflectance, working fluid, operating temperature, receiver insulating material and intercept factor. The input data values averaged over a 10-year period is obtained from India Meteorological Department, Pune. The useful energy delivered by a collector is evaluated with consideration for various heat losses. An average value of solar electricity potential of a 25.3 kW parabolic dish collector is found to be maximum of 15.3 kW for Jodhpur and minimum of 12.7 for Calcutta. Maps of annual variation of solar electricity potentials, comparison of electricity potentials of Indian cities for different months, average electricity potentials and annual electrical energy generation for various Indian cities have been developed. To produce 25 kW of electrical power on all the days of a year, three different dishes are recommended for the Indian cities of Jodhpur, Trivendrum and Calcutta. This atlas provides knowledge and aids in exploitation of solar electricity generation for Indian climatic conditions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]