Rodrigo Escobar

• Pontifical Catholic University of Chile

This study presents a comprehensive techno-economic analysis of green hydrogen production utilizing a third-generation Concentrated Solar Power system integrated with Solid Oxide Electrolysis Cells, examining system configurations under variable climatic conditions in Chile and Spain. By employing dynamic simulation models that consider hourly and...

This study delves into the techno-economic benefits of integrating Proton Exchange Membrane electrolyzers with photovoltaic systems for hydrogen production, with a keen focus on cost optimization strategies. A comprehensive analysis of several system scales and cost scenarios unveils the critical roles of Proton Exchange Membrane stack systems and...

In (semi-)arid regions, harvesting fog and dew can become a complementary solution to traditional water supply. In the Atacama region, a territory of key and water-dependent economic activities, both fog and dew are driven by the advection of marine moisture from the Pacific. Still, little is described regarding the dynamics and water potential of...

Agricultural production in the Atacama Desert is restricted by extreme aridity and poor soil quality. Between 18°S and 30°S, low stratocumulus clouds regularly cover the southeastern Pacific Ocean reaching the Coastal Cordillera. Thus, marine fog is constantly present in the coastal areas of the desert. Fog can be harvested using fog collectors. Ho...

The latest generation of concentrated solar power (CSP) systems uses supercritical carbon dioxide (s-CO2) as the working fluid in a high-performance recompression Brayton cycle (RcBC), whose off-design performance under different environmental conditions has yet to be fully explored. This study presents a model developed using the Engineering Equat...

Solar thermal technologies for power generation have become cost-effective, efficient, flexible, and play a prominent role in achieving low-carbon energy systems. Concentrated solar power is the main solar technology for large-scale power generation and can offer thermal energy storage capacity, delivering power to the grid with high reliability, h...

Industrial energy accounts for a large percentage of global consumption and, thus, it is a target for decarbonization by renewable and in particular solar energy adoption. Low uncertainty simulation tools can reduce the financial risk of solar projects, fostering the transition to a sustainable energy system. Several simulation tools are readily av...

Concentrated Solar Power (CSP) and geothermal energy systems are outlined as two of the most promising technologies for sustainable and reliable electricity generation. Several studies in the technical literature have pointed out that the hybridization of solar and geothermal energy sources could lead to a reduction of the levelized cost of energy...

Exergy is a thermodynamic property that represents the quantification of the maximum useful work that can be extracted from a system interacting with the environment. Regarding solar radiation, radiative exergy has been a matter of study over the last 60 years where the main models applied describe the radiation as undiluted and diluted. The exergy...

Thermal energy storage uses molten salt as a heat transfer fluid implies a high corrosion risk. In this work, ASTM A36 and AISI 304 L steel, exposed to solar salt at 390 °C for 21 days, were studied by electrochemical impedance spectroscopy. The results were validated by mass gain and the characterization of corrosion products. Carbon steel reveale...

The trend to reduce CO2 emissions in cooling processes has made it possible to increase the alternatives for integrating solar energy with thermal equipment whose viability depends on its adaptation to polygeneration schemes. Despite the enormous potential offered by the industry for cooling and heating processes, solar cooling technologies (SCT) h...

Solar energy is an economic and clean power source subject to natural variability, while energy storage might attenuate it, ultimately, effective and operationally feasible forecasting techniques for energy management are needed for better grid integration. This work presents a novel deterministic forecast method considering: irradiance pattern cla...

Desert areas are the favorable geographical locations for desired solar resource and temperature variations for improving the performance of hybrid photovoltaic-thermoelectric generator (HPV-TEG) systems. Therefore, economic feasibility analysis of HPV-TEG system is carried out under real environment and market conditions for the Atacama Desert, Ch...

Solar eclipses are astronomic phenomena in which the Earth’s moon transits between the planet and the Sun, projecting a shadow onto the planet’s surface. As solar power installed capacity increases, detailed studies of this region-wide phenomenon’s effect in irradiance is of interest; however, the literature mainly reports its effects on localized...

This study presents a comprehensive analysis evaluating the impact of the dispatch strategy on the optimal design configurations of different combinations of solar power plants with storage. The analysis considers four dispatch profiles (baseload, daylight, night, and daylight and evening), and four technology combinations including a solar PV plan...

The water–energy–food nexus has captured the attention of many researchers and policy makers for the potential synergies between those sectors, including the development of self-sustainable solutions for agriculture systems. This paper poses a novel design approach aimed at balancing the trade-off between the computational burden and accuracy of th...

Concentrated solar power (CSP) technologies have been developed over the past four decades for commercial operation, establishing them as reliable power generation sources in regions with high direct solar irradiance. The sizing of the solar field, thermal energy storage systems, and power block enables CSP plants to operate under various operating...

This research work presents the assessment of the impact of the solar irradiation, the distance from the coast, and the altitude of the location for a Concentrated Solar Power + Photovoltaic + Multi-Effect Distillation (CSP + PV + MED) plant for simultaneous power generation and seawater desalination. For that, a comparative analysis of the thermoe...

Aerosols are part of the attenuation processes that impact solar radiation within the atmosphere. They influence the availability and spectrum of the solar resource for each location at the earth's surface. The present study presents advances in the development of a methodology intended to estimate the aerosol optical depth (AOD) at a given locatio...

We describe four schemes designed to estimate spectrally resolved direct normal irradiance (DNI) for multi-junction concentrator photovoltaic systems applications. The schemes have increasing levels of complexity in terms of aerosol and circumsolar irradiance (CSI) treatment, ranging from a climatological aerosol classification with no account of C...

Direct normal solar irradiation is a crucial parameter for site selection and design of solar power tower plants. It also has a high impact on economic studies, such as the levelized cost of electricity (LCOE). However, direct solar irradiation can be partially extinguished in its path between heliostats and receivers. Therefore, considering only d...

This work presents a dispatch optimizer algorithm that seeks to maximize the revenues of a CSP plant by selling electricity to the grid for a case study in Chile. The model comprehends a mixed-integer programming problem in which the operation and performance of the plant are represented by the physics and energy balances of the system. The analysi...

This study presents a performance analysis of a Concentrating Solar Power (CSP) plant coupled to a Multi-Effect Distillation (MED) unit with an Air-Cooled Condenser (ACC) as the MED last condenser (configuration named as MED- ACC) to evaluate the advantage of this integration in comparison to the typical once-through condenser (configuration named...

Cloud enhancement events are instances in which the cloud pattern increases global horizontal irradiance on the ground above levels higher than would otherwise be expected during clear sky with cloudless conditions, and in general, these events are characterized by high irradiances occurring during highly changing transient conditions. Even though...

United Nations’ members came together in 2015 and agreed on seventeen sustainable development goals which include hundred and sixty-nine targets related to sustainable development into the overall economic, environmental and social contexts of countries to be achieved by 2030. In order to achieve these goals, more effort may be required than the cu...

The objective of the paper is to generate an energy and environmental model using LEAP to forecast energy demand, supply, emissions for Chile by 2030 and create scenarios considering different policies motivated by current policy as well as national and international commitments from Chile. This paper contributes to literature by developing a long-...

This study analyzes the time resolution impact on the modeling of a hybrid CSP-PV plant integrated with thermal storage and a battery bank for two locations in Chile. Daily and annual results were evaluated varying the time resolution from 1, 5, 10, 15, 30 to 60 min, as well as the capacity factor and LCOE. In this way, the CSP plant was the compon...

A detailed annual performance and thermoeconomic analysis of a Concentrated Solar Power plant coupled to a Photovoltaic and a Multi-Effect Distillation plants (CSP + PV + MED) were performed using an extensive methodology based on an hourly simulation. The aim was to assess the impact of the PV integration into the CSP + PV plant and to evaluate th...

Short-term solar radiation variability is a key parameter to understand the solar resource, as it is concerned with describing the dynamic characteristics of irradiance, that have significant transient effects in solar system performance. Worldwide installed solar capacity is consistently increasing and it can considerably affect the dynamics of el...

Copper mining is the largest industry and energy consumer in Chile, utilizing heat from imported fossil fuels of which Chile is not a producer. The goals for decarbonization present opportunities to analyze how the Chilean industry can become sustainable with significant shares of renewable energy including solar heat. The present study analyzes th...

In this work, an analytical study is performed to determine the impact of the time step resolution on the operation and performance of a hybrid CSP+PV plant integrated with thermal storage and batteries. The hybrid plant scheme is evaluated in Carrera Pinto located in northern Chile. The system was designed to provide 100MW of baseload. The time re...

This work presents a dispatch optimizer algorithm that seeks to maximize the revenues of a CSP plant by selling electricity to the grid for a case study in Chile. The model comprehends a mixed-integer programming problem in which the operation and performance of the plant are represented by the physics and energy balances of the system. The analysi...

Santiago de Chile frequently suffers from atmospheric pollution that contributes to the decrease of solar irradiance on the surface, leading to losses in the energy output of photovoltaic systems. In this study, a simple model is used to estimate the effect of aerosols on the solar irradiance over the city throughout the year, using as input AERONE...

An exergy cost assessment of solar trigeneration plant to generate electricity, fresh-water, and heat is carried out in order to study the process of exergy cost formation, to determine the key components that contribute to the cost of each product, and to establish the best configuration in term of unit exergy cost. The solar trigeneration plants...

A detailed exergy cost and thermoeconomic analysis applied to a Rankine Cycle (RC) coupled to a Multi-Effect Distillation (MED) plant was performed. The aim of this work is to identify the impact of design and operating conditions on the exergy and thermoeconomic costs of the final products, electricity, and freshwater, and to assess the distributi...

The integration of solar energy and seawater desalination plants has been studied in Chile motivated by the presence of a high solar resource in the Atacama Desert and the increasing electricity and water demand from the mining industry and the large cities. The Concentrating Solar Power (CSP) plants coupled to Multi-Effect Distillation (MED) plant...

Clear sky solar irradiance parametric models seek to simplify the atmospheric attenuation with relatively simple parameterizations in order to estimate solar irradiance under clear sky conditions, avoiding the use of computationally expensive radiative transfer models. These models are particularly useful when estimating solar irradiation with sate...

Multi-junction solar cells in concentrator photovoltaic systems (CPV) offer the potential for highly efficient, low-cost electricity generation. However, these systems are typically designed and rated against reference spectra or for standard atmospheric conditions which are often not representative of the real deployment environments. Indeed, it h...

This paper presents a study about the impacts of the integration of concentrated solar power (CSP) with thermal energy storage (TES) in electric power systems. The main tool for this study is a comprehensive long-term power system capacity expansion planning model that integrates a specific module to represent the operation of CSP-TES power plants....

An exergy cost assessment of integrated solar multi-generation schemes, which includes cogeneration, trigeneration, and polygeneration schemes, for the joint production of electricity, fresh water, cooling, and process heat, is carried out. This evaluation process allows finding out the key equipment to improve the design, detect potential energy s...

In recent years, the Chilean energy sector has gone through a significant transformation. Chile ratified the Paris Agreement in 2017 and committed to develop policies to face climate change and to transition to a more sustainable energy system. Promoting renewable energy and energy efficiency became an essential strategy for Chile to reduce emissio...

The highest levels of solar irradiation in the world can be found in northern Chile, with average yearly totals of DNI between 2800 kWh/m 2 and 3800 kWh/m 2. In the present study, the techno-economic analysis of a hybrid CSP+PV plant integrated with TES and a Battery Energy Storage System (BESS) at utility scale was conducted. The plant model was s...

Chile has excellent conditions by having one of the best solar potential worldwide due to the aridness and the high sky clearness index for the energy generation. This potential can be a solution for mining industry which has heavily energy consumer activities in the north of the country and currently both thermal and electricity energy is provided...

Northern Chile presents the highest levels of solar radiation worldwide¹. In addition, Chile is located in the so called “pacific belt of fire”, region with high geothermal potential². In that context, the conditions in the northern region presents high potential for exploiting both sources in hybrid schemes. Several researchers have assessed the b...

Renewable energy, especially PV systems, has experienced a significant growth in its rate of deployment as an alternative for conventional power sources. However, a larger penetration of PV systems is restricted to the availability of technological options for storage. The integration of thermal energy storage to CSP systems is straightforward, thr...

The present paper presents a very simple energy yield model fitted using the annual DNI and the latitude as main inputs, considering a solar tower CSP plant, with 100 MW of net energy output and 6 hours of thermal storage. Furthermore, a mask of suitable areas for CSP power tower installations in Chile is also shown. The mapping of solar radiation...

The concentrated solar power technology used in schemes of cogeneration for the production of power and heat, or power and cooling is an interesting option to develop in Chile, mainly due to the high solar potential. Besides, cogeneration is an option to face the demand for energy in terms of electricity, industrial heat or cooling, which is increa...

Bifacial photovoltaic (PV) modules and cells can transform solar radiation into electricity from both front and rear sides, unlike traditional solar technologies which can only generate power through the front face. This ability has shown to increase electric output with various levels of increment, depending on parameters such as distance to the g...

A thermal analysis of Concentrated Solar Power plants is conducted considering parabolic trough collectors (PTC), linear Fresnel collectors using direct steam generation scheme (LFC-DSG) and central receiver system using both molten nitrate salts (CRS-MNS) direct steam generation (CRS-DSG). The plant capacities were ranged from 50 to 800 MWth and t...

This study presents a thermoeconomic analysis of a CSP+MED plant to evaluate the impact of time-varying conditions (ambient temperature, part-load operation, solar irradiation) on the unit electricity and water thermoeconomic costs. The analysis considered a 100 MW CSP plant coupled to a 45,000 m3/day MED plant, in Crucero, Chile, located at 1200 m...

This study presents a comparative analysis between two different operation modes of a hybrid CSP+PV plant with TES and a Battery Energy Storage System (BESS) to provide 100 MW of base generation. The first operation mode operates the CSP plant as a backup of the PV plant and activates the BESS only when the TES needs to be supplemented. The second...

The primary goal of this work is to provide an understanding of the state of the art and future prospects for solar PV technology in Chile. Chile is leading the incorporation of this type of energy in Latin America, with a solar PV market that has experienced a dramatic growth in the last years, mainly due to the high solar resource and the favorab...

In this paper a model is used to estimate the diffuse radiation using the Boland-Ridley-Lauret (BRL) model, which is developed for Chile, Costa Rica, and Australia. Additionally, artificial Direct Normal Irradiance time series are determined from the diffuse fraction results estimated by the model. Both estimates achieve excellent agreement based o...

Chile presents a combination of favorable climatic conditions which result in the highest levels of solar irradiation in the world. In this paper, the performance of a hybrid CSP + PV plant at utility-scale integrated with a large-scale Battery Energy Storage System (BESS) located in northern Chile was studied. The model considered a solar power to...

Chile is one of the fastest-growing economies in Latin America, with a mainly fossil fuelled electricity demand and a population projected to surpass 20 million by 2035. Chile is undergoing a transition to renewable energies due to ambitious national targets, namely to generate 60% of its electricity from local renewable energy by 2035, and to achi...

The present work shows a comparison between the levelized cost and the thermoeconomic methods in their application to assess the performance of a solar polygeneration plant. The aim is to analyze the costs allocation process, the unit specific costs of each product, as well as the energy and exergy efficiencies, which allows to identify the main ad...

The integration of a Concentrating Solar Power (CSP) plant with a Multi-Effect Distillation (MED) plant has shown a significate potential in countries with high solar irradiation and few freshwater resources. Nevertheless, the performance of these schemes is affected by the variations in ambient conditions and operation modes. This study presents a...

Climate change has caused growing concern in the international community. The Kyoto Protocol was signed by a majority of the world with the clear intention of reducing emissions. Clean Development Mechanism (CDM) is a part of the Kyoto Protocol and allows industrialized countries to reduce their emission by making contribution to developing countri...

Northern Chile has excellent conditions to develop concentrated solar power projects. Although solar irradiation makes a significant contribution to production in the region, solar thermal projects need some support mechanisms. This study focuses on the best combinations of solar incentives and financial parameters to have lowest government cost an...

Knowledge of the solar spectrum is essential for the design and study of numerous technologies. Due to the area considered, the harsh conditions and the difficulty for accessing to some zones, information and measurement on local parameters and spectral resource are scarce. This fact, along with the special atmospheric conditions prevailing in Atac...

The current commercial deployment of concentrating solar power (CSP) relies on a system of thermal energy storage (TES) for round the clock generation of electricity. The heat harvested by a system of collectors, either parabolic troughs or a heliostat field, is transferred by means of heat transfer fluid (HTF) to a storage tank, where it is kept u...

Renewable energy has experienced a significant growth on its rate of deployment as a clean and competitive alternative for conventional power sources. The reduction on the installation costs for PV systems has converted this technology into a relevant player regarding the electricity matrix. However, a larger penetration of PV systems is restricted...

Considering the increase of water and energy requirements in arid zones, this work combine the presence of the coastal stratocumulus as a potential water resource and the behavior of solar radiation as an energy source. The aim is to know the relationships between attenuation of irradiance by fog typology (orographic or advective) and the yields of...

The integration between solar energy and seawater desalination is an interesting option in northern Chile due to a high solar potential in the Atacama Desert, where most of the mining operations are located. This industry is intensive in electricity and water consumption; therefore, there is an ideal market opportunity. The CSP + PV plant has the b...

A thermoeconomic assessment of the joint production of electricity, fresh-water, cooling and heat for a solar polygeneration plant is carried out. The aims are to assess the actual cost of each product, to conduct a sensitivity analysis of investment, fuel cost and demand, and to evaluate the effects of solar field size and the sizing of thermal en...

The effect of soiling on PV systems impacts negatively the energy production. This phenomenon is highly dependant on the environmental context and conditions of operation. Indeed dirt, dust, and other air contaminants are site-specific and their accumulation on PV modules depends on the installation configuration. This study, conducted in Santiago...

In northern Chile is located most of the mining industry of the country, that need a large amount of electricity and water. However, the region is characterized by low water resource that addresses the necessity to find new sustainable sources. On the other hand, in the same region is located an excellent solar potential, with more than 3000 kWh/m...

The application of solar thermal energy to meet the heat demands of the food and beverage processing industry in Chile has huge potential. This paper presents an assessment of the first large aperture trough collector installed in Latin America. The collector preheats water for a boiler in a juice-concentrating factory, 100 km north of Santiago. An...

In this work, a exergoeconomic analysis of the joint production of electricity, fresh water, cooling and process heat for a simulated concentrated solar power (CSP) based on parabolic trough collector (PTC) with thermal energy storage (TES) and backup energy system (BS), a multi-effect distillation (MED) module, a refrigeration absorption module, a...

In this study, a polygeneration system incorporating concentrating solar power (CSP) integrated with a desalination plant is investigated. Parabolic trough collectors (PTC) and multi-effect distillation (MED) technologies are considered, and a transient system model has been simulated using the TRNSYS software. Two alternative desalination integrat...

The present work analyzes the technical feasibility of solar-assisted heat pumps for swimming pool heating in South Brazil. The methodology is based on computer simulations for four configurations of heating systems for private outdoor pools that are located in Florianopolis, SC, Brazil. The simulations were performed using TRNSYS software. The fou...

Electricity systems in Chile are characterized by a variable hourly demand in the central grid and an almost constant demand in the northern grid, which require different operation strategies for solar power plants depending on their location. Hybridizing a CSP plant with a PV system can increase the overall plant capacity factor by allowing therma...

A thermodynamic model was developed using Engineering Equation Solver (EES) to evaluate the performance of single and double-flash geothermal power plants assisted by a parabolic trough solar concentrating collector field, considering four different geothermal reservoir conditions. The benefits of delivering solar thermal energy for either the supe...

At any site, the bankability of a projected solar power plant largely depends on the accuracy and general quality of the solar radiation data generated during the solar resource assessment phase. The term “site adaptation” has recently started to be used in the framework of solar energy projects to refer to the improvement that can be achieved in s...

At any site, the bankability of a projected solar power plant largely depends on the accuracy and general quality of the solar radiation data generated during the solar resource assessment phase. The term "site adaptation" has recently started to be used in the framework of solar energy projects to refer to the improvement that can be achieved in s...

Variability of solar resource poses difficulties in grid management as solar penetration rates rise continuously. Thus, the task of solar power forecasting becomes crucial to ensure grid stability and to enable an optimal unit commitment and economical dispatch. Several forecast horizons can be identified, spanning from a few seconds to days or wee...

Two of the key processes in winemaking are alcoholic fermentation and must maceration, both of which have a high demand of energy. Fermentation is an anaerobic process carried out by the metabolic action of a microorganism. During this process the temperature has an important effect on the fermentation kinetics [1,2]. As the fermentation is exother...

The electricity systems in Chile are characterized by a variable hourly demand in the central grid and an almost constant demand in the northern grid, which require different operation strategies for solar power plants depending on their location. Hybridizing a CSP plant with a PV plant can increase the whole plant capacity factor by allowing therm...

A thermal analysis of Concentrated Solar Power plants is conducted considering a the following technologies: parabolic trough collectors (PTC), linear Fresnel collectors with direct steam generation (LFC-DSG), central receiver system with molten nitrate salts (CRS-MNS) and central receiver system with direct steam generation (CRS-DSG). The plant ca...

One of the key processes in winemaking is the alcoholic fermentation, an anaerobic process carried out by the metabolic action of a microorganism. During this process, temperature has an important effect on the fermentation kinetics of the process. As the fermentation is an exothermic process most of the wineries use a cooling system composed by me...

A thermal and economic analysis of Concentrated Solar Power plants is conducted considering a range of plant capacities from 50 to 800 MWth of field thermal power and the following technologies: parabolic trough collectors (PTC), linear Fresnel collectors with direct steam generation (LFC-DSG), central receiver system with molten nitrate salts (CRS...