Design, optimization and optical performance study of tripod heliostat for solar power tower plant

Vinayak C. Thalange, Vishwanath H. Dalvi, Sanjay M. Mahajani, Sudhir V. Panse, Jyeshtharaj B. Joshi and Raosaheb N. Patil

Energy, 2017, vol. 135, issue C, 610-624

Abstract: Heliostats account for about 50% of the capital cost of power towers. In conventional heliostats with vertical pedestals and azimuth-elevation drives, the support structure contributes 40–50% of this cost due to heavy cantilever arms required by the large spanning structures. Additional costs are imposed by costly, difficult to maintain drive mechanisms. Here we show that a tripod heliostat can substantially address these shortcomings. We have presented the protocol and results of systematic structural analysis of heliostats with aperture areas of 62 and 100 m2. We have included effects of shape on load reaction and structure cost. An in-house ray-tracing software is incorporated to estimate the performance penalties due to deformation under gravity and wind loads. The analysis shows that the additional energy collection by a less-stiff, larger heliostat more than offsets the spillage due to the greater deformation of the same.

Keywords: Tripod heliostat; Solar power tower; Structural optimization; Cost optimization; Ray tracing (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2017
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (2)

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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:eee:energy:v:135:y:2017:i:c:p:610-624

DOI: 10.1016/j.energy.2017.06.116

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