Abstract
In the last few years, several studies have been carried out on concentrating solar thermal and thermochemical applications. These studies can be further enhanced by means of high-flux solar simulators (HFSS), since they allow the development of experimental tests under controlled irradiance conditions, regardless of sunshine. In this work, a new high-flux solar simulator, capable of reaching levels of irradiance higher than 100 W/cm2 (1000 suns), has been designed, built and characterized. This simulator is composed of 8 ellipsoidal specular reflectors, arranged face-down on a horizontal plane, in order to irradiate from the upper side any system requiring the simulation of concentrated solar radiation; differently from the HFSSs described in the scientific literature, this configuration allows the avoidance of any distortion of fluid-dynamic or convective phenomena within the system under investigation. As a first step, a numerical analysis of the HFSS has been carried out, simulating each real light source (Xe-arc), having a length of 6.5 mm, as a line of 5 sub-sources. Therefore, the HFSS has been built and characterized, measuring a maximum irradiance of 120 W/cm2 and a maximum temperature of 1007 °C; these values will be enough to develop experimental tests on lab-scale thermal and thermochemical solar applications.
Highlights
In the last few years, several high-flux solar simulators (HFSS) have been developed for concentrated solar power (CSP) system testing and solar thermochemical analysis, such as testing of components and materials in high-temperature thermo-chemical applications, concentrating photovoltaic applications, etc. [1,2,3,4,5]
The number of HFSSs employed for experimental tests has increased recently
This paper describes the optical design, fabrication and characterization of a high-flux solar simulator based on an array of Xe-arc lamps with characterization of a high-flux solar simulator based on an array of Xe-arc lamps with ellipsoiellipsoidal specular reflectors
Summary
In the last few years, several high-flux solar simulators (HFSS) have been developed for concentrated solar power (CSP) system testing and solar thermochemical analysis, such as testing of components and materials in high-temperature thermo-chemical applications, concentrating photovoltaic applications, etc. [1,2,3,4,5]. [1,2,3,4,5] These systems are capable of producing a continuous high-power beam of radiation, similar in its characteristics to concentrated solar light. They normally use, as a radiation source, high-power xenon or argon arc lamps, having a spectrum similar to sunlight; appropriate optical reflectors allow to reach level of light concentration comparable to CSP systems [6]. Indoor HFSSs have many advantages, such as stable, continuous and controllable irradiance, and not being affected by time, season or climate For these reasons, the number of HFSSs employed for experimental tests has increased recently
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