Experimental Study of the Influence of Light Intensity on Solar Organic Rankine Cycle Power Generation System

A low-temperature (<120 degrees C) solar organic Rankine cycle (ORC) power generation experimental facility is designed and built. The influence of light intensity on the system performance is investigated using the experimental facility. The results indicate that the system efficiency can reach 2.2%. The temperature of heat transfer fluid (HTF) decreases linearly with light intensity (I). However, both system efficiency and thermoelectric efficiency first decrease linearly and then drop sharply as I decreases at working fluid flow rates (V-wf) of 200 and 160 L/hr, while they only decrease slightly with I at V-wf of 120 L/hr. The light intensity of the turning point is 824 W/m(2) at V-wf of 200 L/hr, which corresponds to an HTF temperature of 75 degrees C. In addition, it is found that the influence of light intensity on the performance of ORC becomes stronger for higher working fluid flow rate. Moreover, the light intensity and HTF temperature at the turning point increase with working fluid flow rate. The experimental results are of great significance for the design and operation of low-temperature solar ORC power generation system.