Analysis and Design of Two Stretched-Membrane Parabolic Dish Concentrators

1991 ◽  
Vol 113 (3) ◽  
pp. 180-187 ◽  
Author(s):  
Thomas R. Mancini
Keyword(s):  
State Of The Art ◽  
Focal Length ◽  
Production Costs ◽  
Single Element ◽  
Solar Concentrator ◽  
Optical Efficiency ◽  
Solar Concentrators ◽  
Analysis And Design ◽  
Parabolic Dish ◽  
Glass Metal

The state-of-the-art of parabolic dish solar concentrators is the faceted, glass-metal dish. The mass production costs of glass-metal dishes may be high because they do not incorporate the innovations of design and materials developed over the last eight years. Therefore, Sandia National Laboratories has undertaken to develop two stretched-membrane parabolic dish concentrators for the Department of Energy’s Solar Thermal Program. These solar concentrators are being designed for integration with an advanced solar receiver and a Stirling engine/generator in a 25-kWe power production unit. The first dish, which builds on the successful design of the stretched-membrane heliostats, is to be a low risk, near-term commercial solar concentrator. This solar concentrator comprises 12 large, 3.6-m diameter, stretched-membrane facets that are formed into parabolic shapes either with a large vacuum or by performing the thin membranes plastically. The focal length-to-diameter ratios (f/Ds) for the facets are about 3.0, relatively large for a dish but much lower than heliostats where they typically range from 50 to 100. Two contractors are currently fabricating facets for this dish, and a third contractor is designing the facet support structure and pedestal for the dish. The second stretched-membrane concentrator is a single-element monolithic dish with an f/D of 0.6. The dish is shaped into a parabola by plastically yielding the membrane using a combination of uniform and nonuniform loading. Initial measurements of the dish indicate that it has a slope error of 2.6 milliradians (one standard deviation) relative to a perfect parabola. In this paper, the designs of the two stretched-membrane dishes are analyzed using the computer code CIRCE to model the optical performance of the concentrators and a thermal model, which includes conduction, convection, and radiation heat transfer, to calculate the thermal losses from the cavity solar receivers. The solar collector efficiency, defined as the product of the optical efficiency of the collector and the thermal efficiency of the receiver, is optimized for comparing the performance of several solar concentrator configurations. Ten facet arrangements for the faceted stretched-membrane dish and the single-element stretched-membrane dish are modeled and their performances compared with that of a state-of-the-art glass-metal dish. Last, the initial designs of these two stretched-membrane dishes are described along with the results of preliminary performance measurements on their respective optical elements.

Optical Analysis of Solar Concentrators Using Photogrammetry Process

2017 ◽  
pp. 175-201
Author(s):  
Safa Skouri ◽  
Salwa Bouadila
Keyword(s):  
Measurement Technique ◽  
Measurement Techniques ◽  
High Impact ◽  
Geometric Errors ◽  
Solar Concentrator ◽  
Optical Analysis ◽  
Optical Efficiency ◽  
Solar Concentrators ◽  
Displacement Error ◽  
Slope Error

As the optical efficiency of solar concentrators has a high impact on its thermal performance. However a qualification method determining the geometrical accuracy of a solar concentrator system is necessary. The purpose of this chapter is to gives an optical analysis of solar concentrator with an imaging process in order to improve the thermal efficiency of the solar concentrator. In this order measurement techniques used to determine geometric errors of the solar concentrating system have been described. Intercept factor, slope error and displacement error have been identified and analyzed. Examples of the intercept factor for concentrator reflector along with optical efficiency has been developed and determined related to the experimental results given by photogrammetry measurement technique.

Optical Analysis of the Fixed Mirror Solar Concentrator by Forward Ray-Tracing Procedure

2012 ◽  
Vol 134 (3) ◽  
Author(s):  
Ramon Pujol Nadal ◽  
Víctor Martínez Moll
Keyword(s):  
Ray Tracing ◽  
Power Plants ◽  
Thermal Power ◽  
Production Costs ◽  
Electricity Production ◽  
Design Parameters ◽  
Solar Concentrator ◽  
Optical Efficiency ◽  
3D Ray Tracing ◽  
Positive Effect

The fixed mirror solar concentrator (FMSC) is a mobile focus concentrator whose design emerged in the 1970s in an effort to reduce electricity production costs in solar thermal power plants. This geometry has not yet been analyzed with 3D ray-tracing procedures. The geometry of FMSC is defined using three parameters: the number of mirrors N, the ratio of focal length and reflector width F/W, and the intercept factor γ (in order to represent different receiver widths). For the analysis, a 3D ray-tracing code that allows the characterization of solar concentrators was developed. A standard evacuated tube was used as a receiver. The geometric concentration ratio, the optical efficiency, and the transversal and longitudinal incidence angle modifier (IAM) curves for different values of design parameters were calculated. High concentrations imply low F/W values and for high efficiencies, large intercept factor values are required. Increasing the F/W ratio has a positive effect on the transversal IAM, yet a negative one for the longitudinal IAM. Increasing the number of mirrors has a negative effect on both IAM curves due to the self-shadowing between the adjacent steps. Increasing the intercept factor only has a significant positive effect on the longitudinal IAM. The goodness of the IAM factorization approach was analyzed, and it was found that it can be used as long as a new correction factor to account for the focus displacement is introduced. The results presented in this paper provide information, in form of curves, regarding the optical behavior of the FMSC in terms of different design parameters in order to know the possibility to use the FMSC in medium range temperature applications.

scholarly journals Optical Simulation and Experimental Verification of a Fresnel Solar Concentrator with a New Hybrid Second Optical Element

2016 ◽  
Vol 2016 ◽  
pp. 1-8 ◽  
Author(s):  
Guiqiang Li ◽  
Yi Jin
Keyword(s):  
Optical Properties ◽  
Concentration Ratio ◽  
Flux Distribution ◽  
Deflection Angle ◽  
Optical Element ◽  
Fresnel Lens ◽  
Optical Simulation ◽  
Solar Concentrator ◽  
Optical Efficiency ◽  
Solar Concentrators

Fresnel solar concentrator is one of the most common solar concentrators in solar applications. For high Fresnel concentrating PV or PV/T systems, the second optical element (SOE) is the key component for the high optical efficiency at a wider deflection angle, which is important for overcoming unavoidable errors from the tacking system, the Fresnel lens processing and installment technology, and so forth. In this paper, a new hybrid SOE was designed to match the Fresnel solar concentrator with the concentration ratio of 1090x. The ray-tracing technology was employed to indicate the optical properties. The simulation outcome showed that the Fresnel solar concentrator with the new hybrid SOE has a wider deflection angle scope with the high optical efficiency. Furthermore, the flux distribution with different deviation angles was also analyzed. In addition, the experiment of the Fresnel solar concentrator with the hybrid SOE under outdoor condition was carried out. The verifications from the electrical and thermal outputs were all made to analyze the optical efficiency comprehensively. The optical efficiency resulting from the experiment is found to be consistent with that from the simulation.

Dual-sensitized upconversion-assisted, triple-band absorbing luminescent solar concentrators

Nanoscale ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 12 (33) ◽  
pp. 17265-17271
Author(s):  
Seong Kyung Nam ◽  
Kiwon Kim ◽  
Ji-Hwan Kang ◽  
Jun Hyuk Moon
Keyword(s):  
Solar Light ◽  
Photovoltaic Systems ◽  
Solar Concentrator ◽  
Solar Concentrators ◽  
Luminescent Solar Concentrators ◽  
Luminescent Solar Concentrator ◽  
Triple Band

Luminescent solar concentrator-photovoltaic systems (LSC-PV) harvest solar light by using transparent photoluminescent plates, which is expected to be particularly useful for building-integrated PV applications.

scholarly journals Thermoelectric Sensor Coupled Yagi–Uda Nanoantenna for Infrared Detection

Electronics ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 10 (5) ◽  
pp. 527
Author(s):  
Waleed Tariq Sethi ◽  
Olivier De Sagazan ◽  
Mohamed Himdi ◽  
Hamsakutty Vettikalladi ◽  
Saleh A. Alshebeili
Keyword(s):  
State Of The Art ◽  
Infrared Detection ◽  
Single Element ◽  
Center Wavelength ◽  
Resonance Response ◽  
Thermal Measurements ◽  
Radiation Induced ◽  
Thermoelectric Sensor ◽  
Junction Array ◽  
First Time

We present an experimental demonstration of a thermoelectric sensor coupled with a nanoantenna as an alternative option for detecting infrared energy. Two nanoantenna design (single element and an array) variations based on Yagi-Uda technology and one separate nano-thermoelectric junction array were fabricated and tested. The nanoantennas were tuned to operate and respond at a center wavelength of 1550 nm (193.5 THz) optical C-band window, but they also exhibited a resonance response when excited by lasers of various wavelengths (650 nm and 940 nm). The radiation-induced electric currents in the nanoantennas, coupled with a nano-thermoelectric sensor, produced a potential difference as per the Seebeck effect. With respect to the uniform thermal measurements of the reference nanoantenna, the experiments confirmed the detection properties of the proposed nanoantennas; the single element detected a peak percentage voltage hike of 28%, whereas the array detected a peak percentage voltage hike of 80% at the center wavelength. Compared to state-of-the-art thermoelectric designs, this was the first time that such peak percentage voltages were experimentally reported following a planar design based on the Seebeck principle.

scholarly journals Cost-effective solar concentrators based on red fluorescent Zn(ii)–salicylaldiminato complex

RSC Advances ◽  
2016 ◽  
Vol 6 (21) ◽  
pp. 17474-17482 ◽  
Author(s):  
Pierpaolo Minei ◽  
Elisabetta Fanizza ◽  
Antonio M. Rodríguez ◽  
Ana B. Muñoz-García ◽  
Paola Cimino ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Zinc Complex ◽  
Red Light ◽  
Cost Effective ◽  
Solar Concentrator ◽  
Solar Concentrators ◽  
Luminescent Solar Concentrator

A red light and concentrated zinc complex embedded in PMMA yields a cost-effective and efficient luminescent solar concentrator.

scholarly journals Design and Fabrication of Absorptive/Reflective Crossed CPC PV/T System

Designs ◽  
2018 ◽  
Vol 2 (3) ◽  
pp. 29
Author(s):  
Muhsin Aykapadathu ◽  
Mehdi Nazarinia ◽  
Nazmi Sellami
Keyword(s):  
Numerical Control ◽  
Solar Concentrator ◽  
Cnc Milling ◽  
Acceptance Angle ◽  
Optical Efficiency ◽  
Compound Parabolic Concentrator ◽  
Building Integrated Photovoltaic ◽  
New Generation ◽  
Experimental Rig ◽  
T System

A crossed compound parabolic concentrator (CCPC) is a non-imaging concentrator which is a modified form of a circular 3D compound parabolic concentrator (CPC) obtained by orthogonal intersection of two 2D CPCs that have an optical efficiency in line with that of 3D CPC. The present work is about the design and fabrication of a new generation of solar concentrator: the hybrid photovoltaic (PV)/thermal absorptive/reflective CCPC module. The module has a 4× CCPC structure truncated to have a concentration of 3.6× with a half acceptance angle of 30°. Furthermore, an experimental rig was also fabricated to test the performance of the module and its feasibility in real applications such as building-integrated photovoltaic (BIPV). 3D printing and Computer Numerical Control (CNC) milling technologies were utilized to manufacture the absorber and reflective parts of the module.

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