Abstract
Heliostats are critical components of solar tower technology and different strategies have been proposed to reduce their costs; among them diminishing their size to reduce wind loads or linking nearby heliostats mechanically, to reduce the overall number of actuators. This document aims to describe the development of a linked array of mini-heliostats which move together in an elevation–Fresnel configuration. This configuration consists of an array of mirrors rotating around linked parallel axes, in a linear Fresnel style with an added elevation mechanism allowing all axes to incline simultaneously in the plane North–South–Zenith; that is equivalent to an array of N linked mini-heliostats moved by only two drives instead of 2N. A detailed analytical study of the Sun-tracking performance of this kind of heliostat arrays was carried out, and an 8-mirror prototype based on optical and mechanical analyses was designed, built and tested. Even though the mirrors are flat, the array produced a rather compact radiative flux distribution on the receiver. The flux distribution is compatible with a slope error of the order of 1 mrad. Peak and mean concentration ratios reached 6.89 and 3.94, respectively.
Highlights
Solar tower power plants [1,2,3,4] are the second most widely extended solar thermal technology for electricity generation, with more than 20 commercial projects operating in the world
One of these strategies consists of reducing the size of heliostats [10], departing from the main historical path of the technology towards large heliostats [11]. Another one is the use of high-density heliostat fields, where these small heliostats are closer to each other than usual shadowing and blocking considerations dictate [12]
The aim of the project is to carry out the development of solar tower technology for high temperature industrial heat
Summary
Solar tower power plants [1,2,3,4] are the second most widely extended solar thermal technology for electricity generation, with more than 20 commercial projects operating in the world. Engineers have devised different development strategies to cope with the challenge of making a more affordable technology [7,8,9]. One of these strategies consists of reducing the size of heliostats [10], departing from the main historical path of the technology towards large heliostats [11]. Another one is the use of high-density heliostat fields, where these small heliostats are closer to each other than usual shadowing and blocking considerations dictate [12]
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