Abstract

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POTENTIAL OF SOLAR CHIMNEY POWER FOR RURAL ELECTRIFICATION IN GHANA

David Asante, Stephen Afonaa-Mensah, David Abaidoo


The solar chimney power plant (SCPP) also known as ‘solar updraft tower’ is natural draft device that converts solar radiation into thermal energy to heat the in-flowing air under the collector roof and subsequently converts the thermal energy into kinetic energy through a caged wind turbine to produce electrical power. This paper presents the mathematical model analysis of the SCPP design and its potential for rural electrification in Ghana. The model was developed based on the energy balance to estimate the power output for some selected areas in Ghana. The solar chimney power plant with 400 m chimney height, 20 m chimney diameter and 1000 m collector diameter is capable of producing yearly between 62 - 91 MWh in the selected locations in Ghana across the three main geographical divide. The use of solar chimney power plant to promote rural power development in many locations in Ghana is possible especially in the northern belt. Solar energy is free, inexhaustible and environmentally benign and therefore the use of conventional energy sources, like crude oil and natural gas, for power generation can be reduced.