Optimizing Power Output in Solar Chimney Power Plants Influence of Collector Area and Chimney Height

Abstract

Growing public interest in solar technologies created the increasing demand for clean and sustainable energy. Among these, Solar Chimney Power Plant (SCPP) provides a promising way for producing power by converting solar radiation into kinetic and thermal energies. This paper reviews the power optimisation of solar chimney power plants when either collector area or chimney height serves as a key parameter of design. The performance of a solar chimney power plant is primarily dependent on the geometry and thermal during solar-induced air convection due to this technology being really sustainable. Increasing the collector area will give a higher temperature rise in the air and a higher mass flow rate, while higher chimneys will give a higher-pressure gradient and thus turbine power output, according to a detailed analysis of recent experimental, numerical, and analytical works. The practical optimisation, however, will be performed by trade-offs between construction costs, material availability, and aerodynamic losses. This review paper integrates the outcomes of various research works to identify optimum design ratios, performance scaling laws, and efficiency trends for different climatic types. It ends with a discussion of the scope of computational optimisation techniques and future directions to study, geared towards fostering hybrid design strategies and materials approaches for maximising SCPP efficiency.