Opportunities of hybrid solar generation for data center needs

Engineering notes

Engineering notes will be added by the Power for Solar editorial team.

Chinese explanation / 中文解读

中文解读待补充：本站会优先为光伏效率、钙钛矿太阳能电池、储能技术、太阳能热利用、BIPV、并网技术等高价值论文补充中文说明。

Original abstract

Concentrating solar power-photovoltaic (CSP-PV hybrid systems combine the low-cost energy generation of PV with the dispatchability and low-cost thermal storage capabilities of CSP, to improve solar plant flexibility and economics. These systems can reach high capacity factors, align with peak demand, and save costs through shared infrastructure. They also offer dispatchable renewable power, increasing their grid value in markets. The Hybrid Optimization and Performance Platform is a Python-based modeling tool for hybrid renewable energy systems. The system employs a price-taker dispatch optimization to generate control signals, subsequently simulating performance based on those results. Financial models provide long-term techno-economic assessment, which is used in a derivative-free optimization framework to identify optimal plant designs. We examine the value of CSP-only, PV-battery, and CSP-PV hybrid systems under current and future economic circumstances for four locations in the southwestern United States. Each is simulated using a time-of-delivery electricity price profile aggregated from five years of historical prices, and the profiles of three future scenarios from the 2024 Cambium datasets, offered by the National Laboratory of the Rockies (NLR). Projections of technology capital costs from NLR's 2024 Annual Technology Baseline are used to create an expansive set of over 400 location-grid scenario-technology cost input combinations. Under current economic circumstances, best-performing plant designs obtain benefit-cost ratios of 0.8 for CSP-only, 1.0 for PV-Battery, and 0.76 for CSP-PV hybrid plants. Under favorable projections, CSP-PV hybrid plants approach a ratio of 1.0, even at high capacity factors, asserting it as a competitive alternative.

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