Impact of parabolic trough collector model on the CSP plants’ performance

•A thorough census study on the most commonly used PTC models is carried out.•EuroTrough and SenerTrough are the most installed PTC models in CSP plants worldwide.•AlbiasaTrough and EuroTrough models have the best thermal and optical efficiencies.•Thermal and optical performances of the existing PTC models are very close. There are currently several parabolic trough collector (PTC) brands in the global solar market, which are differentiated by several innovative features, such as the materials properties, sun-tracking systems, metal structures, drives or heat transfer fluids. In order to identify the most effective ones and develop a reference guide for concentrated solar power (CSP) investors to frame and direct their choices towards the best performing options, two studies have been carried out in this paper. The first one is a thorough survey of the most commonly used PTC’s models in commercial CSP projects worldwide, while the second study is a set of numerical simulations of seven PTC technologies, viz. AT150, LS2, LS3, SGX1, SkyTrough, Sunfield6 and ET150, aiming to assess their thermal and optical performances. The results of the census study have revealed the dominance of two PTC’s models, namely EuroTrough (ET150 and Astr0) and SenerTrough, which are currently installed in 32% and 31% of all PTC’s power plants worldwide, respectively. However, in terms of thermal, optical and exergetic performance, the findings have shown that the simulated PTC’s models have quasi-similar electrical outputs as well as close thermal and optical efficiencies with a slight distinction of the AT150 and ET150 models.