Abstract:
This study is devoted to the modeling of the performance of solar concentrators for central receiver power plants. A continuum field representation of ideal heliostat arrays is adopted in the formulation of the modeling. This representation accounts for two governing factors: the law of reflection of light rays imposes steering constraints on mirror orientations; the proximity of mirrors creates shadow effects by blocking the incident and/or reflected solar radiation.The results of a steering analysis which develops the space-time characteristics of heliostats and of a shadow analysis which determines the local effectiveness of mirrors in reflecting solar energy to a central point are combined to obtain in closed analytical form the global characteristics of circular concentrators. These charasteristics appear as time profiles for mirror orientations and for effective concentrator areas. A 150kw actual solar power plant is designed for Cihanbeyli by introduction of suitable derating factors by moving from the upper limits of performance established by these characteristics.
