LAPSE:2023.23739
Published Article
LAPSE:2023.23739
Optimization under Uncertainty to Reduce the Cost of Energy for Parabolic Trough Solar Power Plants for Different Weather Conditions
Adarsh Vaderobli, Dev Parikh, Urmila Diwekar
March 27, 2023
Renewable energy use can mitigate the effects of climate change. Solar energy is amongst the cleanest and most readily available renewable energy sources. However, issues of cost and uncertainty associated with solar energy need to be addressed to make it a major source of energy. These uncertainties are different for different locations. In this work, we considered four different locations in the United States of America (Northeast, Northwest, Southeast, Southwest). The weather and cost uncertainties of these locations are included in the formulation, making the problem an optimization-under-uncertainty problem. We used the novel Better Optimization of Nonlinear Uncertain Systems (BONUS) algorithm to solve these problems. The performance and economic models provided by the System Advisory Model (SAM) system from NREL were used for this optimization. Since this is a black-box model, this adds difficulty for optimization and optimization under uncertainty. The objective function and constraints in stochastic optimization (stochastic programming) problems are probabilistic functionals. The generalized treatment of such problems is to use a two-loop computationally intensive procedure, with an inner loop representing probabilistic or stochastic models or scenarios instead of the deterministic model, inside the optimization loop. BONUS circumvents the inner sampling loop, thereby reducing the computational intensity significantly. BONUS can be used for black-box models. The results show that, using the BONUS algorithm, we get 41%−47% of savings on the expected value of the Levelized Cost of Electricity (LCOE) for Parabolic Trough Solar Power Plants. The expected LCOE in New York is 57.42%, in Jacksonville is 38.52%, and in San Diego is 17.57% more than in Las Vegas. This difference is due to the differences in weather and weather uncertainties at these locations.
Keywords
BONUS algorithm, solar energy, Stochastic Optimization, weather uncertainties
Suggested Citation
Vaderobli A, Parikh D, Diwekar U. Optimization under Uncertainty to Reduce the Cost of Energy for Parabolic Trough Solar Power Plants for Different Weather Conditions. (2023). LAPSE:2023.23739
Author Affiliations
Vaderobli A: Center for Uncertain Systems: Tools for Optimization & Management, Vishwamitra Research Institute, Crystal Lake, IL 60012, USA
Parikh D: Department of Industrial Engineering, The University of Illinois at Chicago, Chicago, IL 60607, USA
Diwekar U: Center for Uncertain Systems: Tools for Optimization & Management, Vishwamitra Research Institute, Crystal Lake, IL 60012, USA; Department of Industrial Engineering, The University of Illinois at Chicago, Chicago, IL 60607, USA
Journal Name
Energies
Volume
13
Issue
12
Article Number
E3131
Year
2020
Publication Date
2020-06-17
Published Version
ISSN
1996-1073
Version Comments
Original Submission
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PII: en13123131, Publication Type: Journal Article
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LAPSE:2023.23739
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doi:10.3390/en13123131
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Mar 27, 2023
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