DLR - Institute of Solar Research - Simulations & Projections

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Simulation and Projections – Software for the Assessment of Concentrating Solar Technologies

The DLR Institute for Solar Research develops a variety of software tools supporting the research and development activities for single components and overall systems. Additionally, the techno-economic evaluation of different technologies plays an important role.

The scope of application comprises raytracing for the optical system design, thermo-dynamic simulation of line and point focus systems as well as the yield assessment and economic evaluation of various renewable energy technologies.

The tools presented below are either developed by or in close collaboration with the Institute of Solar Research, and are employed in many different projects.

We use many more tools beyond those mentioned here and would be glad to discuss possibilities for the support of your projects using the software at our disposal.

EBSILON®professional Solar

The planning and process design of solar thermal power plants require software tools similar to the tools applied for conventional power plants. The planning tool developed and run by steag Energy Services GmbH, EBSILON®professional, was extended with components for solar thermal power plants with collaboration of DLR’s institute of solar research.

greenius - The Green Energy System Analysis Tool

In contrast to fossil energy sources, the yield from solar power plants and wind parks depends on the present irradiation respectively the wind strength and wind direction. greenius is designed to perform the required hourly resolved simulation with specifically edited weather data and is available free of charge.

Virtual Solar Field (VSF)

The operators of commercial power plants are often reluctant to test new operating strategies during the normal operation in order to not affect the planned power output and energy yield of the plant. In these cases, the Virtual Solar Field (VSF) offers unique possibilities to test new procedures to improve the plant yield before their implementation in commercial power plants.

CSP Bankability - SolarPACES Guideline for Bankable STE Yield Assessment