Solar insolation transients - Their impact on the design and testing of solar thermal power plants

The passage of cloud shadows over the collector mirror field of a solar thermal power plant may impose severe thermal transients on certain components of the power plant. The most vulnerable components are expected to be the tubes of the receiver-boiler, the steam turbine, the steam downpipe, and the power plant control system. The preferred solutions will vary with the power plant configuration and will require careful attention in the detailed design to the impact of transients. But these transients will not impose a strong leverage on the choice of power plant configuration. The development testing of a given design must be carefully planned to prove the proper handling of the transient problem.