Study on the Effect of Tilt on the Variation of Aperture Area Shading in a Linear Fresnel Reflector Field for Two Different Configurations

Abstract

Linear Fresnel reflector (LFR) consists of parallel rows of reflectors that direct the incident solar radiation on to a common focus. A linear receiver placed at the common focus absorbs the reflected solar radiation. Due to continuous change in Sun’s position in sky, continuous tracking of reflectors is required that leads to variable shading losses. Portion of reflector area gets shaded due to adjacent reflector row, and the amount of shading varies throughout the day and year. In this work, analytical expression has been used to determine the shaded aperture areas for two different system configurations. Monthly and yearly average values of shading loss factor at different system tilt angles have been plotted and compared.