Comparative Techno-economic Analysis of Molten Salt Versus Particle-based Hybrid Pv-csp Plants With Electric Heaters and Sco2 Power Blocks
Abstract
This work presents a techno-economic comparison between two advanced hybrid PV-CSP systems integrating supercritical CO₂ (sCO₂) power cycles: one based on molten salt and the other on solid particles. Both use electric heaters to store excess PV electricity as thermal energy in CSP storage, enhancing system flexibility and dispatchability. The molten salt system operates at a maximum temperatures of 565 °C using a simple recuperated sCO₂ Brayton cycle, while the particle-based system reaches temperatures up to 780 °C and employs optimized sCO₂ layouts with recompression and intercooling. Optimization targets minimizing the levelized cost of electricity (LCOE), with additional KPIs including energy yield, and capacity factor. Results show that hybridization reduces LCOE by up to 14% for molten salt and 15% for particles compared to standalone CSP. PV-TES and hybrid systems significantly outperform PV-BESS at higher capacity factors, showing the role of thermal storage and efficient power blocks in cost-effective renewable energy.
Keywords
CSP, PV, Techno-economic Optimization, System Modeling.