Environmental and energy performances of a newly installed Dish-Stirling Concentrating Solar Power plant based in Palermo

Abstract

n the last decade there has been a significant increase globally in solar based electricity production, like those produced from Concentrating Solar Power (CSP) plants. One of the most efficient CSP technologies today is the Dish-Stirling characterized by an efficiency greater than 30%, which may become highly competitive by 2030 according to the International Energy Agency. On one hand, the Dish-Stirling is responsible for high environmental impacts, caused during its production and installation due to their energy consumption and use of energy intensive raw material. On the other hand, no direct emissions are released during its use phase. However, only a careful analysis of the entire life cycle can give a clear representation of all generated impacts. Therefore, we present a preliminary Life Cycle Assessment of a grid-connected Dish-Stirling concentrator with nominal power of 33 kW located in Palermo, Sicily. The study has been implemented according to the international standards of series ISO 14040/44 (2006) with the aim to evaluate the Dish-Stirling’s eco-profile, which in a first step identifies the main energy flows and environmental impacts of the use-phase. The importance of the study is underlined by the fact the here considered CSP is the first connected to national grid. As first step primary data on the energy production in the use phase have been collected and a comparison in terms of CO2e with the normal energy grid showed that we are able to save 89% of the total CO2e emissions.