Journal Article

Investigating the Feasibility of Integrating Vegetation Into Solar Chimney Power Plants in the Tamanrasset Region

Ali, S, Djaouida, B

2025

Overview

The Solar Chimney Power Plant (SCPP) utilises a two-step procedure to transform solar energy into electricity. First, it uses a solar collector to turn sunlight into thermal energy. Then, this thermal energy is transformed into kinetic energy as it raises a chimney and finally into electrical energy via a wind turbine and generator. A numerical simulation of a prototype in Manzanares, Spain, was conducted using a 2D axi-symmetric model and computational fluid dynamics with an RNG k-turbulence model. The simulation also involved solving the radiative transfer equation with a two-band discrete ordinate radiation model. This study aims to evaluate the effect of vegetation beneath the collector roof on a solar chimney power plant’s performance. Our research compared various designs of these power plants, both with and without vegetation. Three configurations were examined in this study: a standard power plant, a power plant with a secondary collector roof, and a power plant with both secondary and tertiary collector roofs. According to our findings, the system with secondary and tertiary collector roofs demonstrated the highest electricity generation capacity, yielding an annual output ranging from 34 to 80 kW. The findings indicate that adding vegetation into a solar chimney power plant is feasible but will most likely reduce the plant’s energy generation.

• Publisher: De Gruyter Brill Sp. z o.o., Paradigm Publishing Services
• Subject: Computational fluid dynamics / Electricity / Feasibility / Fluid dynamics / Fluid flow / Kinetic energy / Power plants / Radiative transfer / Roofing / Simulation / Solar chimneys / Solar energy / Thermal energy / Turbulence models / Vegetation / Wind turbines