Abstract
The mirror unit installation error of the solar parabolic dish concentrator can adversely affect its optical performance causing optical intercept losses and hot spots on the absorber surface, which in turn affect safety. Thus, minimizing mirror installation error is considered very important. In this paper, a new method for the facet installation measurement and facet alignment of the mirror unit in the dish concentrator is presented. Firstly, a “clean” facet installation error measurement method using photogrammetry is presented. The photogrammetry measures the spatial coordinates of three feature points to reverse the mirror facet alignment error parameters. Next, two novel methods, a three-rotation alignment method and two-rotation alignment method for aligning the mirror facet are presented and corresponding mathematical models. The advantage of these alignment methods is that the adjustment value and order for each support bolt can be determined before the mirror facet is aligned, which could provide quantitative adjustment information to operator and avoid repeated adjustments. Finally, validity of the installation measurement and facet alignment method was verified by a numerical simulation and an experiment using a metal facet alignment. The presented methods do not rely on the geometry of the reflector mirror and could therefore have extensive uses in applications such solar tower and trough concentrator.
Highlights
Solar energy is a clean and environmental friendly renewable energy source, which is plentiful and can be widely distributed
We focus on the facet installation error measurement and facet alignment of the mirror unit
The results have shown that the mirror facet measurement method presented in this paper is valid
Summary
Solar energy is a clean and environmental friendly renewable energy source, which is plentiful and can be widely distributed. Developing and utilizing solar energy is an important way to solve energy shortages and environmental pollution problems [1,2,3]. The dish-Stirling concentrated solar power system (DS-CSP system) focuses sunlight onto a metallic coil surface in a heat absorber via a parabolic dish concentrator and heats a working medium (usually hydrogen or helium gas) in a metal coil, which drives a Stirling engine in order to generate electricity [2,3]. The DS-CSP system has the advantages of a high solar-to-electricity conversion efficiency (the record is 31.25%), flexible arrangement, and high modularity, and is considered a high-grade solar thermal utilization system with wide application prospects in the future [3,4,5].
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