astronomy

Shams Solar Power Station

Shams Solar Power Station is a astronomy topic covered in the lgStudy science library. This page brings together a partial reference excerpt, illustrations, worked examples, real-world applications and a short study plan, so you can understand Shams Solar Power Station rather than just read about it. In short: Shams Solar Power Station (Arabic: شمس, lit. 'Sun') is a concentrating solar power station near Madinat Zayed, Abu Dhabi, the United Arab Emirates. The solar power station is located approximately 120 kilometres (75 mi) southwest of Abu Dhabi and 6 kilometres (4 mi) from Madinat Zayed on the road from Tarif to the Liwa Oasis.

Key takeaways

Shams Solar Power Station belongs to astronomy; place it in that map before memorising details.
Learn the definition first, then one example that makes the definition concrete.
Connect Shams Solar Power Station to a quantity you can measure, compute or draw — that is where exam questions come from.
Reproduce the core statement of Shams Solar Power Station from memory before moving on to harder problems.

Reference excerpt

Shams Solar Power Station (Arabic: شمس, lit. 'Sun') is a concentrating solar power station near Madinat Zayed, Abu Dhabi, the United Arab Emirates. The solar power station is located approximately 120 kilometres (75 mi) southwest of Abu Dhabi and 6 kilometres (4 mi) from Madinat Zayed on the road from Tarif to the Liwa Oasis. The Shams station is planned to eventually include 3 plants: Shams 1 became operational on 17 March 2013. Using parabolic trough technology with a capacity of 100 megawatts (MW), Shams 1 was the largest concentrated solar power (CSP) facility in the world when it opened. Shams 1 will be followed by the Shams 2 and Shams 3 power plants. The website Shamspower describes the impact and sustainability factors of the solar power plant.

Description

Shams 1 is a 100 MW concentrating solar power station which uses parabolic trough technology. It displaces 175,000 tons of CO2 per year and its power output is enough to power 20,000 homes. The station consists of 258,048 parabolic trough mirrors, 192 solar collector assembly loops with 8 solar collector assemblies per loop, 768 solar collector assembly units, and 27,648 absorber pipes. It covers an area of approximately 2.5 square kilometres (0.97 sq mi). The basic and detailed engineering have been developed by AG Ingeniería. The project is consulted by Fichtner Consulting Engineers. The equipment is designed and delivered by Foster Wheeler. The power station is equipped by Abengoa Solar's ASTRO collectors. The 125 MW steam turbine is provided by MAN Turbo, parabolic glass mirrors are provided by Flabeg, PTR 70 absorber tubes are provided by Schott AG, and Therminol heat transfer fluid is provided by Solutia. In October 2010 it was reported that because of "substantial" atmospheric dust, solar radiation received by Shams' solar collectors was less than expected and more collectors would be required.

Technical specifications

Solar-Field Aperture Area: 627,840 m2 Number of Loops: 192 Number of SCAs per Loop: 4 SCA Length: 150 m Number of Modules per SCA: 12 SCA Manufacturer (Model): Abengoa Solar (ASTRO) Mirror Manufacturer (Model): Flabeg (RP3) Number of Heat Collector Elements (HCEs): 27,648 HCE Manufacturer (Model): Schott (PTR 70) Heat-Transfer Fluid Type: Therminol VP-1 HTF Company: Solutia Solar-Field Inlet Temp: 300° Solar-Field Outlet Temp: 400° Turbine Manufacturer: MAN Output Type: Steam Rankine Cooling Method: Dry cooling Fossil Backup Type: Natural Gas Boiler

Developer The project is developed by the Shams Power Company, a special purpose vehicle of Abu Dhabi Future Energy Company (Masdar) in cooperation with Spain's Abengoa Solar and France's Total S.A. Masdar has 60% in the project while Abengoa Solar and Total S.A. each have 20%. The power station is developed under a 25-year build, own and operate contract. Bids to build and operate the power station were made by several international consortia. In addition to Abengoa Solar and Total S.A., Saudi Arabia's ACWA Power and Spain's Iberdrola, Germany's MAN Ferrostaal and Solar Millennium, and Spain's Grupo Cobra and Grupo Sener made their bids.

Financing The construction cost of Shams 1 is about US$600 million. The project is financed by 10 regional and international lenders including BNP Paribas, the National Bank of Abu Dhabi and Société Générale.

Illustrations

Worked examples

Example 1 — a first encounter with Shams Solar Power Station

Start with the simplest possible case. Write down what Shams Solar Power Station claims or describes in one sentence, then invent the smallest concrete situation in which that sentence is true. In astronomy, the smallest case is usually a single object, a single equation or a single measurement. Check that every symbol or term in your sentence has a meaning in that case.

Example 2 — changing one variable

Take the situation from Example 1 and change exactly one quantity: double it, halve it, or set it to zero. Predict what should happen to Shams Solar Power Station before you calculate. Comparing your prediction with the result is the fastest way to find out whether you understand the idea or only the words.

Example 3 — an exam-style question

Typical questions about Shams Solar Power Station ask you to (a) state it precisely, (b) apply it to given data, and (c) explain a limitation. Practise writing all three answers in under five minutes; the third part is what separates a full-mark answer from an average one.

Applications of Shams Solar Power Station

In research: Shams Solar Power Station appears in astronomy research whenever the underlying quantities have to be modelled precisely. Papers usually cite it as a starting assumption and then explore where it breaks down.
In technology and industry: Engineering practice reuses Shams Solar Power Station in design rules, simulations and safety margins. Knowing the idea lets you read a specification sheet and understand why the numbers look the way they do.
In the classroom: Shams Solar Power Station is common in secondary-school and first-year university syllabi. It links to neighbouring topics Solar power stations in the United Arab Emirates, Solar thermal energy, so understanding it makes those chapters shorter.
In everyday life: Look for Shams Solar Power Station outside the textbook — in sport, cooking, traffic, electronics or the sky above you. An example you found yourself is remembered far longer than one you were given.

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How to study Shams Solar Power Station in 20 minutes

Read the reference excerpt below once, without taking notes.
Close the page and write down what Shams Solar Power Station means in your own words.
Compare your version with the excerpt and mark what you missed.
Work through the three examples above with pen and paper.
Explain Shams Solar Power Station out loud to somebody else — or to Teacher Smith in the lgStudy chat.

Frequently asked questions

What is Shams Solar Power Station in simple terms?

Why does Shams Solar Power Station matter?

Because it connects several astronomy ideas at once: it gives you a definition you can apply, a quantity you can calculate, and a way to check whether a result is plausible.

How should I study Shams Solar Power Station?

Read the excerpt, restate it from memory, then work through the examples and applications listed on this page. The five-step study plan above takes about twenty minutes.

What does this page cover?

It gives you a compact reference excerpt plus original lgStudy explanations, examples, applications and study material on Shams Solar Power Station.