Constructal Distribution of Solar Chimney Power Plants: Few Large and Many Small

In this paper, we show how to use constructal design to distribute solar chimney power production on available land area most efficiently. The solar chimney design is used as an example of solar-driven power plant. We found that the power generated per unit of land area is proportional to the length scale of the power plant, as well as to the chimney height, roof radius, and chimney radius. It was also found that the chimney height, roof radius, and chimney radius cannot increase independently and indefinitely. Because of the flow resistances associated with distributing the power over a territory, the land area for each power plant must be finite and allocated optimally. Several patterns of the multi-scale plants on a square area are explored. The global performance of such patterns is greater when more land area is allocated to the largest plant. This performance depends comparatively less on the total land area covered by all power plants.