Comparative study of the optical and economic performance of etendue-conserving compact linear Fresnel reflector concepts

Abstract

This paper presents a comparative performance investigation of three Compact linear Fresnel collectors; a flat collector, a sun-tracking etendue-conserving collector and an off-peak etendue-conserving collector. A Monte Carlo ray tracing program is used to simulate the fields. The resultant incident radiation on the receiver aperture is used to quantify the geometric intercept factor and optical efficiency of the field. Each field is then optimised for mirror width and the ratio between the mirrors targeting each receiver aperture. The three fields are then compared on the basis of performance. The off-peak etendue-conserving compact linear Fresnel field reaches a peak geometric intercept factor of 92%, while the sun-tracking etendue-conserving field and flat field had a peak geometric intercept factor of 83% and 79% respectively. A maximum total plant cost for the same Levelized Electricity Cost is presented to incorporate a cost comparison.