An Organic Rankine Cycle (ORC) system is a closed thermodynamic cycle used for power production from low to medium-high temperature heat sources ranging from 80 to 400°C and for small-medium applications at any temperature level.

Solar thermal power The ORC allows electricity generation at lower capacities and lower collector temperature, and hence the possibility for low-cost, small scale decentralized CSP units.

ORC: How it works In a typical ORC design, a thermal energy source feeds an evaporator to drive an expander or “reverse compressor”, which in turn generates the electricity. The provider of the heat can be natural, such as in the case of geothermal energy, or waste heat from any number of industrial waste heat sources.

Financial analysis shows that the ORC system, including the cost of the unit plus the costs of installation and integration into the process, will cost approximately 4.8 Million USD. The payback period is 4 years.