oa Solar Dish-Ericsson Engine: A Novel Solar Technology for the 21th Century

Solar energy in Qatar promises clean electricity generation for operating air conditioning, water desalination plants, irrigation water, industrial applications, and fulfill future needs by controlling CO2 in order to achieve Qatar's Vision 2030. This solar energy potential has many economic benefits, reduces greenhouse gas emissions, and helps to comply with the Kyoto Protocol on climate change.

In order to make a clear decision to install solar plants, several technical requirements are needed: strong solar irradiation, suitable solar sites land, and selected solar technology with high efficiency to be implemented in Qatar's desert environment (high humidity & stick dust). The objective of this research is to fulfill these technical specifications with concentrating in solar technology.

Qatar is rich in solar radiation all-round the year. The mean solar irradiation for several cities has investigated. The average hourly, daily, monthly, and yearly global solar radiation are measured & calculated and compared with the direct normal irradiance (DNI). The measured data was compared with satellite data, which is greatly helpful for the future “Solar Qatar Atlas” and “Qatar Energy Footprint”.

The state-of-the-art solar technologies have been investigated in detail to select the suitable solar technologies. The Parabolic Troughs (20% efficiency) and dish-Stirling engine (30% efficiency) are studied. The efficiency refers to the electrical energy to solar energy ratio. However, the solar dish-Ericsson engine has the highest efficiency of all (45%). It is currently in the R&D stages and has been investigated in detail. This new advanced high efficiency engine is an attractive candidate for supplying power to meet Qatar Vision 2030. Solar power plant combines solar dish-Ericsson and Gas fuel could be an ideal option for energy production in Qatar. This research could be good for Qatar to adopt this technology and thus become a leader in the R&D solar technology field worldwide.