A review of wind loads on heliostats and trough collectors

Abstract

This article reviews existing papers and presents considerations about wind loads on heliostats and trough collectors. Research efforts all over the world have focused, for decades, on the evaluation and reduction of wind loads on heliostats and trough collectors. However, the subject continues to be a live issue, since scientists are attempting to find a low-cost and highly accurate solution. In this paper, we will review the effects of wind loads on heliostats and trough collectors, considering wind flow characteristics, turbulence intensity and the Reynolds number, the aspect ratio, porosity and mirror gap, wind loads on isolated collectors and on collector fields, and the effects of wind on beam quality. This review is expected to be of use to researchers and engineers involved in the analysis and design of heliostats and trough collectors.