Parthiv Kurup is a member of the Distributed Systems and Storage Group in the Strategic Energy Analysis Center.

Areas of Expertise

Understanding and determination of costs of commercial- to utility-scale concentrating solar power (CSP) generation technology, e.g., power tower, parabolic trough, and linear fresnel

Use and integration of CSP for solar industrial process heat (SIPH) for industrial and desalination applications.

Development of new potential markets for CSP and market analysis; connection of markets and industrial players

Utilization of the System Advisor Model (SAM) for heat generation at CSP plants

Market knowledge of global CSP markets (e.g., South Africa, India, and Spain)

Techno-economic analysis (TEA) and manufacturing analysis of clean energy technologies (e.g., advanced metal processing)

Application and potential costs of additive manufacturing for renewable energy technologies (e.g., wind blade molds and small hydropower plants)

Bottoms-up costing (e.g., using design for manufacturing and assembly [DFMA], which can, for example, determine the specific manufacturing costs and processes needed to manufacture and assemble parts and components)

Hydropower supply chain and trade-flow analysis

Water treatment and desalination technologies, baseline, and TEA for alternative source waters

Research Interests

Look at current and future costs of technologies (e.g., manufacturing at scale, learning rates, Top-Down analysis, etc.), market and supply chain analysis, and systems analysis (e.g., with SAM) for energy and heat generation

Focus on CSP, and projects in wind energy, geothermal, and hydropower programs

Business development (e.g., interacting with customers, finding solutions for key customer problems, scoping the development of projects, and helping the commercialization of research)

Education

M.Eng., mechanical engineering, Imperial College, 2003–2008 (including a year in industry)

Prior Work Experience

Director, Renewable Energy Projects, United Kingdom, 2013–2014

Gas Turbine Site Engineer, E.ON AG, Germany, 2008–2013

Featured Publications

Annual Technology Baseline: The 2021 Electricity Update, NREL Technical Report (2021)

Hybrid Solar Heat Generation Modelling and Cases, EuroSun 2020 (2021)

Opportunities for Solar Industrial Process Heat in the United States, NREL Technical Report (2021)  

Manufacturing Cost Analysis of Advanced Parabolic Trough Collector, SolarPaces 2020 (2021)

Renewable Thermal Hybridization Framework for Industrial Process Heat Applications, SolarPaces 2020 (2021)

Case Study of a Californian Brewery to Potentially Use Concentrating Solar Power for Renewable Heat Generation, Solar World Congress 2019 (2020)

Analysis of Supply Chains and Advanced Manufacturing of Small Hydropower Systems, NREL Technical Report (2018)

Revisiting Parabolic Trough Concentrators for Industrial Process Heat in the United States," ASME 2016 (2016)

Potential for Solar Industrial Process Heat in the United States: A look at California," SolarPaces 2015 (2016)

On the Path to SunShot: Emerging Opportunities and Challenges in U.S. Solar Manufacturing, NREL Technical Report (2016)

 Initial Investigation Into the Potential of CSP Industrial Process Heat for the Southwest United States, NREL Technical Report (2015)  

Parabolic Trough Collector Cost Update for the System Advisor Model (SAM), NREL Technical Report (2015) 

Domestic Material Content in Molten-Salt Concentrating Solar Power Plants, NREL Technical Report (2015)