Design, Thermodynamic Performance Comparison and Cost Analysis of Photovoltaic (PV), Concentrated Solar Power (CSP), Wind Turbine, Natural Gas Combined Cycle (NGCC), and Integrated Solar Combined Cycle (ISCC) Power Plants

This paper evaluates and discusses ways to use five energy resources more efficiently for generating electric power. An analysis of five different 10 MW powerplants was made: a photovoltaic system, a concentrated solar power system, wind turbines, a natural gas combined cycle and an integrated solar combined cycle. Also, each power plant’s operating principle, thermodynamic analysis, economic analysis, and simulation evaluation were made using the System Advisor Model (SAM), Engineering Equation Solver (EES), and the Thermoflow Power Plant Simulation program. From the analysis, the power plant capacity factor, grid availability, levelized cost of electricity, and annual energy production are compared and analyzed to determine a suitable power plant for a given location.