Solar (Comb)
Solar PV Group
Transforming light into electricity
The Solar PV group at SET center has emerged from the strategic collaboration between the College of science, college of engineering and SET center. Our vision is that Saudi Arabia should have a leading position in the solar PV technology due to its high sun radiation during the whole year as well as other attractive factors such as the availability of wide areas needed for PV installations. Our objectives in PV group are:
- Developing of new materials for solar PV applications as well as enhancing the performance of the existing materials.
- Decreasing the negative impact of the harsh environment (Temperature and dust) of Saudi Arabia on solar panels
- Fabrication of thin films materials for smart windows applications
Solar Thermal Group
Using Solar Thermal Energy for Power Generation, Desalination and other Applications
Research in solar thermal spans a wide spectrum, from high-temperature concentrating technologies (central receiver, parabolic trough, and Fresnel system) to low-temperature technologies.
In central receiver systems, research is focused on development of innovative particle heating receiver designs for high temperature applications. This research aims at using solid particles (such as silica sand) as the heat collection and energy storage media, such that temperatures approaching 1000 °C can be achieved. This research is conducted in conjunction with Sandia National Laboratories and several international partners.
Research in parabolic trough collectors aims at improving receiver performance of small parabolic trough systems that can be used for process heat applications, such as desalination, steam generation, or cooling. Several innovative solutions are being developed to maximize the benefit of using solar energy in this niche industry.
In Fresnel collectors, research is focused on developing a novel point focus Fresnel technology that promises high efficiency, potentially high temperature, low cost, and local manufacturing. Several prototypes have been designed and built, and work is ongoing to improve this technology to reach the commercialization stage.
The research group also conducts research on low-temperature stationary collectors, especially for desalination using solar stills and membrane distillation.
Research
Completed & on-going Projects:
- Development of new systems based on high temperature concentrating technologies
- High Temperature Falling Particle Receiver (Funded by US Department of Energy)
- Design and Development of a New CSP System based on Metal Oxides (Funded by US Department of Energy)
- Production of Electricity through KSU Falling Particle Receiver System Phase I (Funded by Saudi Electric Company)
- Gen 3 Particle Pilot Plant (G3P3):Integrated High-Temperature Particle System for CSP (Funded by US Department of Energy)
- Production of Electricity through KSU Falling Particle Receiver System Phase II (Funded by Saudi Electric Company)
- Scientific and Technological Alliance for Guaranteeing the European Excellence in Concentrating Solar Thermal Energy (Funded by European Commission)
- Performance Evaluation of an Innovative Concept of Linear Fresnel Reflector based CSP system (Funded by Exir Ltd.)
- Development of new solar desalination systems
- Innovative Point Fresnel Collector with Polar Solar Tracking System for Solar Poly-generation (electricity and water) (Funded by KSA National Plan for Sci. & Tech.)
- Development of new solar water heating systems
- Performance Improvement of Solar Stills (Funded by SET Center)
Publications
- Shaker Alaqel , Abdelrahman El-Leathy, Hany Al-Ansary, Eldwin Djajadiwinata, Nader Saleh, Syed Danish, Rageh Saeed, Abdulelah Alswaiyd, Zeyad Al-Suhaibani, Sheldon Jeter, Ahmed Al-Balawi, Fahad Al-Harthi; Experimental investigation of the performance of a shell-and-tube particle-to-air heat exchanger; Solar Energy; Volume: 204 Pages: 561-568; JUL 2020
- George Peters, Matthew Golob, Clayton Nguyen, Sheldon Jeter, Syed Danish, Abdelrahman Elleathy, Hany Al-Ansary; Preliminary Design of an All-Ceramic Discrete-Structure Particle Heating Receiver; Preliminary Design of an All-Ceramic Discrete-Structure Particle Heating Receiver; Journal of Energy Resources Technology; Volume: 142 Issue: 5; MAY 2020
- Abdelrahman El-Leathy, Sheldon Jeter, Hany Al-Ansary, Syed Noman Danish, Rageh Saeed, Said Abdel-Khalik, Matthew Golob, Eldwin Djajadiwinata, Zeyad Al-Suhaibani; Thermal performance evaluation of lining materials used in thermal energy storage for a falling particle receiver based CSP system; Solar Energy; Volume: 178 Pages: 268-277; JAN 2019
- Syed Noman Danish, Abdelrahman El-Leathy, Mohanad Alata, Hany Alansary Enhancing Solar Still Performance Using Vacuum Pump and Geothermal Energy, Energies, Volume: 12 Issue: 3; FEB 2019.
- Abdelrahman El-Leathy, Sheldon Jeter, Hany Al-Ansary, Syed Noman Danish, Rageh Saeed, Said Abdel-Khalik, Matthew Golob, Eldwin Djajadiwinata, Zeyad Al-Suhaibani, Thermal performance evaluation of lining materials used in thermal energy storage for a falling particle receiver based CSP system, Solar Energy, Volume 178, 2019, Pages 268-277
- Rageh S. Saeed, Abdulelah Alswaiyd, Hany Al-Ansary, Abdelrahman El-Leathy, Sheldon Jeter, Shaker Alaqel, Nader S. Saleh, Eldwin Djajadiwinata, Zeyad Al-Suhaibani, Syed Danish, Zeyad Almutairi; Effect of the Cyclic Heating (Aging) on the Solar Absorptance and Specific Heat of Particulate Materials; 26th SolarPACES Conference, Online Event, September 28 – October 2, 2020.
- Nader S. Saleh, Shaker Alaqel, Eldwin Djajadiwinata, Rageh S. Saeed, Abdulelah Alswaiyd, Hany Al-Ansary, Abdelrahman El-Leathy, Sheldon Jeter, Syed Danish, Zeyad Al-Suhaibani, Said Abdel-Khalik, Muhammad Sarfraz; An Experimental Investigation of Heat Losses During Charging the Thermal Storage Tank in a Particle-Based CSP System; 26th SolarPACES Conference, Online Event, September 28 – October 2, 2020.
- Shaker Alaqel, Eldwin Djajadiwinata, Nader S. Saleh, Rageh S. Saeed, Abdulelah Alswaiyd, Hany Al-Ansary, Abdelrahman El-Leathy, Sheldon Jeter, Syed Danish, Zeyad Al-Suhaibani, Said Abdel-Khalik; On-Sun Experiments on the World’s First Deployed Gas-Turbine Particle-Based Power Tower Facility at King Saud University; 26th SolarPACES Conference, Online Event, September 28 – October 2, 2020.
- Eldwin Djajadiwinata, Muhammad Sarfraz, Shaker Alaqel, Abdelrahman El-Leathy, Nader S. Saleh, Rageh S. Saeed, Abdulelah Alswaiyd, Hany Al-Ansary, Sheldon Jeter, Syed Danish, Zeyad Al-Suhaibani; The Selection of Expansion Joint Material for High-Temperature Multi-Layered Thermal Energy Storage Bins; 26th SolarPACES Conference, Online Event, September 28 – October 2, 2020.
- Hany Al-Ansary, Abdelrahman El-Leathy, Abdulelah Alswaiyd, Shaker Alaqel, Nader Saleh, Rageh Saeed, Zeyad Al-Suhaibani, Syed Danish, Eldwin Djajadiwinata and Sheldon Jeter, "Study of the Optimum Discrete Structure Configuration in Obstructed Flow Particle Heating Receivers" International Conference on Concentrating Solar Power and Chemical Energy Systems, SolarPACES 2019, Daegu-South Korea, 1-4 October, 2019.
- Hany Al-Ansary, Abdelrahman El-Leathy, Sheldon Jeter, Matthew Golob, Clayton Nguyen, Eldwin Djajadiwinata, Shaker Alaqel, Rageh Saeed, Said Abdel-Khalik, Zeyad Al-Suhaibani, Syed Danish, Nader Saleh, Ahmed Al-Balawi, Fahad Al-Harthi, Salem Bashraheel and Hatim Gandayh "Design Features of the World's First Commercial Concentrating Solar Power Plant Using the Particle Heating Receiver Concept" 13th International Conference on Energy Sustainability, Proceedings of the ASME 2019, ES2019-3856, Bellevue, WA, USA, July 15-17, 2019.
News
On March 25, 2021, US Department of Energy approved the next phase (Phase 3 of Gen3) of our project to build a next-generation CSP plant using the solid-particle pathway, with the goal of de-risking commercial CSP systems operating above 700° Celsius.
