
487Solar Process Heat and Thermal Power
© 2008 Taylor & Francis Group, LLC
The following example illustrates how the System Advisor Model (SAM) can be used
to analyze the performance of a parabolic trough power system.
Example 8.8
The empirical parabolic trough model in SAM uses a set of equations based on empiri-
cal analysis of data collected from installed systems (the SEGS projects in the south-
western United States) to represent the performance of parabolic trough components.
One of these systems is a SAM/CSP Trough Power Cycles/SEGS 30 MWe Turbine.
NOTE: Many of the input variables in the parabolic trough model are interrelated and
should be ...