SolarPILOT: A power tower solar field layout and characterization tool

Wagner, Michael J.; Wendelin, Tim

doi:10.1016/j.solener.2018.06.063

Title: SolarPILOT: A power tower solar field layout and characterization tool

Journal Article · Sun Jun 24 00:00:00 EDT 2018 · Solar Energy

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1016/j.solener.2018.06.063· OSTI ID:1461367

Wagner, Michael J. ^[1]; Wendelin, Tim ^[2]

National Renewable Energy Lab. (NREL), Golden, CO (United States); Colorado School of Mines, Golden, CO (United States)
National Renewable Energy Lab. (NREL), Golden, CO (United States)

This paper develops and demonstrates a new SolarPower tower Integrated Layout and Optimization Tool (SolarPILOT). The tool uses the analytical flux image Hermite series approximation originally implemented in the DELSOL3 software developed by Sandia National Laboratory in the early 1980s. By applying the analytical model to individual heliostat images rather than large groups or zones of heliostats, SolarPILOT can characterize a wide variety of heliostat field layouts. The individual heliostat modeling approach increases computational expense in comparison with DELSOL3, so SolarPILOT implements a number of improvements to the analytical approximation method to improve model accuracy and computational efficiency. This paper discusses several of these methods, including dynamic heliostat grouping to reduce the expense of intercept factor evaluation, approximation of annual productivity with a subset of time steps throughout the year, polygon clipping to accurately calculate inter-heliostat shadowing and blocking, receiver and tower geometry optimization, and a trigonometric image transformation technique that ensures model accuracy for small heliostats. SolarPILOT also integrates a Monte-Carlo ray tracing engine (SolTrace), providing improved receiver optical modeling capability, a user-friendly front end for geometry definition, and side-by-side validation of the analytical algorithms.

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Research Organization:: National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL), Golden, CO (United States)

Sponsoring Organization:: USDOE Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy (EERE), Renewable Power Office. Solar Energy Technologies Office

Grant/Contract Number:: AC36-08GO28308

OSTI ID:: 1461367

Alternate ID(s):: OSTI ID: 1545389

Report Number(s):: NREL/JA-5500-66106

Journal Information:: Solar Energy, Vol. 171, Issue C; ISSN 0038-092X

Publisher:: ElsevierCopyright Statement

Country of Publication:: United States

Language:: English

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Cited by: 85 works

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Viability Assessment of a Concentrated Solar Power Tower With a Supercritical CO2 Brayton Cycle Power Plant Alsagri, Ali Sulaiman; Chiasson, Andrew; Gadalla, Mohamed Journal of Solar Energy Engineering, Vol. 141, Issue 5 https://doi.org/10.1115/1.4043515	journal	April 2019
Verification of Optical Modelling of Sunshape and Surface Slope Error for Concentrating Solar Power Systems Wang, Ye; Potter, Daniel; Asselineau, Charles-Alexis Unpublished https://doi.org/10.13140/rg.2.2.11836.80009	text	January 2019