Feasibility Study of CSP Tower with Receiver Installed at Base

In this paper, an alternate design of a concentrated solar power (CSP) tower is proposed with a receiver installed at the base of the tower, and a central tower with curved mirrors mounted at the top. A plurality of heliostats surrounding the tower and heat absorbers and exchangers are situated around the base. The heat from the Sun received by the heliostats is reflected towards the top of the tower, and is reflected back to the base by specially designed curved conic mirrors mounted on the top. The receiver collects and transfers heat to the working fluid which provides heat to a thermodynamic cycle. This arrangement can also act as a heat source to a furnace in the thermolysis of water for hydrogen production or for industrial heating.