VISdish: A new tool for canting and shape-measuring solar-dish facets.
Marco Montecchi1, Giuseppe Cara1, Arcangelo Benedetti1
1Department of Energy Technologies, ENEA, S. Maria di Galeria, Roma 00123, Italy.
The Review of Scientific Instruments
|July 3, 2017
Summary
A new tool, VISdish, simplifies solar dish facet-canting and shape measurement. This improves solar flux concentration and accuracy for electricity generation and thermal processes.
Area of Science:
- Solar Energy Engineering
- Optical Metrology
Background:
- Solar dishes utilize faceted reflectors to concentrate solar energy for power generation and thermal applications.
- Precise alignment (facet-canting) and shape measurement are crucial for optimizing solar flux concentration and receiver capture ratio.
Purpose of the Study:
- To introduce VISdish, a novel tool developed at ENEA for efficient and accurate solar dish facet-canting and shape measurement.
- To demonstrate the advantages of VISdish over existing methods in terms of data processing and accuracy.
Main Methods:
- VISdish employs a visual inspection system (VIS) approach for both canting and shape-measurement functionalities.
- Shape data acquired by VISdish are processed using simulation software to evaluate flux profiles and concentration quality.
Main Results:
- VISdish offers simpler data processing due to the unambiguous relationship between light point sources and their reflections.
- Preliminary experimental results on a solar dish at ENEA-Casaccia demonstrate the instrument's effectiveness and higher accuracy.
Conclusions:
- VISdish provides a more straightforward and accurate method for solar dish alignment and performance verification.
- The tool is essential for optimizing the performance of concentrated solar power systems.
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