Realistic ray-tracing model of a Scheffler reflector based on experimental data
Thomas Fasquelle,
Benjamin Kadoch,
Gabriel Guillet and
Séverine Barbosa
Renewable Energy, 2024, vol. 231, issue C
Abstract:
A model of a Scheffler reflector with mirror facets is presented in the form of an open-source script for use with the free ray-tracing software Soltrace (Monte-Carlo method). It is calibrated to match the experimental results obtained with an 8 m2 (surface area) reflector of 1.43 m focal distance. It is found that the optical errors of real reflectors (slope, specularity, shape) are very large, leading to results that are far from theoretical. A sensitivity study is then carried out to assess the level of importance of reflector and receiver positioning and adjustment to obtain maximum performance. The parametric study showed that the margin of error is quite small for north–south alignment, rotation axis adjustment, horizontal receiver position, declination adjustment and tracking system, with a performance reduction of 10% for errors of 1°, 0.8°, 6 cm, 2 days and 4 min, respectively. The inclination of the receiver has lower influence on the results. The performance of Scheffler reflectors could therefore be greatly enhanced by improving the shape and characteristics of the mirrors, taking particular care with the various settings. In addition, as an application example, a secondary optical system multiplying the power density by up to 3.3 is proposed.
Keywords: Concentrated solar power; Scheffler reflectors; Monte-Carlo ray-tracing; Sensitivity analysis (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2024
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations:
Downloads: (external link)
http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0960148124009248
Full text for ScienceDirect subscribers only
Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.
Export reference: BibTeX
RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan)
HTML/Text
Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:eee:renene:v:231:y:2024:i:c:s0960148124009248
DOI: 10.1016/j.renene.2024.120856
Access Statistics for this article
Renewable Energy is currently edited by Soteris A. Kalogirou and Paul Christodoulides
More articles in Renewable Energy from Elsevier
Bibliographic data for series maintained by Catherine Liu ().