Energy and economic analysis of photovoltaic, concentrating photovoltaic, and combined concentrating photovoltaic/thermal‐organic Rankine cycle power plants in Iran

In this study, energy and economic analyses of three small‐scale solar power plants were conducted in various parts of Iran. The power plants were polycrystalline photovoltaic (PV), concentrating photovoltaic (CPV), and combined concentrating photovoltaic/thermal (CPV/T) and Rankine organic cycle (ORC). Electricity productions for the PV and CPV power plants were initially obtained. The electricity generation from the combined CPV/T and ORC power plant was then calculated and compared with the other two plants studied. In addition, an economic analysis of all the plants studied was also conducted. All calculations have been performed using in‐house computer code written in MATLAB software. Results showed that the CPV and CPV/T and ORC plants are most suitable for those regions of Iran where the global annual horizontal solar energy is more than 1900 and 2000 kWh/m2, respectively. In these regions, the CPV and CPV/T and ORC plants generate up to 200% of the electrical energy generated by the PV plant. Based on the current feed‐in tariff for photovoltaic systems in Iran, the economic analysis suggests that when the land costs are not a major concern in all the plants under consideration, the CPV and CPV/T and ORC plants are mainly profitable in the regions where the annual horizontal solar energy is more than 1900 kWh/m2.