Solar Thermal Technology

April 26, 2019
DRMI Auditorium
1300—1430

Dr. Anjaneyulu Krothapalli

Don Fuqua Eminent Scholar Chair & Professor Emeritus of Mechanical Engineering at Florida State University (FSU)

Abstract

Harvesting solar radiation and converting into useful heat has been subject of intense research because of its use in a wide variety of engineering applications. In early years of solar energy implementation, the direct conversion of solar radiation to electricity using Photovoltaics took the center stage and except for the space applications, it was not considered for common use because of its cost. However, with recent advances in Photovoltaics manufacturing, the cost of solar electricity generation has plummeted to about $0.07 per Kwh making it the most affordable for  everyday applications. Photovoltaic power plants and wind farms are being inherently intermittent, solar thermal heat storage and power generation will complement the existing renewable energy grid. Since storing electricity is not a particularly efficient process and heat storage being far easier and efficient method, solar thermal becomes very attractive to large-scale energy production. 

Many manufacturing industry uses saturated steam at relatively low pressures. A novel flat solar panel, Multiple Parabolic Reflector Flat Panel Solar Collector, is described to heat a working fluid to a maximum temperature of 150oC.  The parabolic reflectors in the panel remain stationary, while the receiver moves to track the sun, thereby allowing for maximum energy collection with minimum amount of sun tracking.  

Abridged Biography

Dr. Krothapalli was the Don Fuqua Eminent Scholar Chair & Professor Emeritus of mechanical engineering at Florida State University (FSU), USA and an Affiliated Professor of Energy at Royal Institute of Technology (KTH), Sweden. He was the founding member and Chairman of the Mechanical engineering department at FSU from 1983 to 2002. He was on the faculty of Aeronautics & Astronautics at Stanford University from 1981-1983. He obtained his M.S. and Ph.D. degrees from Stanford University in 1978 and 1979 respectively. As an entrepreneur, he founded five start-up companies in California and Florida. Dr. Krothapalli is an expert engineer/scientist in the fields of Aeronautics and Renewable Energy with 5 US patents and over 200 scientific papers. Dr. Krothapalli is a Fellow of American Society of Mechanical Engineers and was a National Research Council Senior Fellow at NASA Ames Research Center.

POC

Dr. Daniel A. Nussbaum
Naval Postgraduate School 
Principal, Energy Academic Group
Monterey CA 93943
Phone: 831-656-2387
Mobile: 831-324-3228
Email: dnussbaum@nps.edu