Potential for Solar Industrial Process Heat in the United States: A Look at California

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22 Scopus Citations

Abstract

The use of Concentrating Solar Power (CSP) collectors (e.g., parabolic trough or linear Fresnel systems) for industrial thermal applications has been increasing in global interest in the last few years. In particular, the European Union has been tracking the deployment of Solar Industrial Process Heat (SIPH) plants. Although relatively few plants have been deployed in the United States (U.S.), we establish that 29% of primary energy consumption in the U.S. manufacturing sector is used for process heating. Perhaps the best opportunities for SIPH reside in the state of California due to its excellent solar resource, strong industrial base, and solar-friendly policies. This initial analysis identified 48 TWhth/year of process heat demand in certain California industries versus a technical solar-thermal energy potential of 23,000 TWhth/year. The top five users of industrial steam in the state are highlighted and special attention paid to the food sector that has been an early adopter of SIPH in other countries. A comparison of the cost of heat from solar-thermal collectors versus the cost of industrial natural gas in California indicates that SIPH may be cost effective even under the relatively low gas prices seen in 2014. A recommended next step is the identification of pilot project candidates to promote the deployment of SIPH facilities.

Original languageAmerican English
Number of pages9
DOIs
StatePublished - 31 May 2016
Event21st International Conference on Concentrating Solar Power and Chemical Energy Systems, SolarPACES 2015 - Cape Town, South Africa
Duration: 13 Oct 201516 Oct 2015

Conference

Conference21st International Conference on Concentrating Solar Power and Chemical Energy Systems, SolarPACES 2015
Country/TerritorySouth Africa
CityCape Town
Period13/10/1516/10/15

Bibliographical note

Publisher Copyright:
© 2016 Author(s).

NREL Publication Number

  • NREL/CP-5500-64710

Keywords

  • CSP
  • industrial process heat
  • solar thermal

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