Evaluation of Composite Structural Materials for Heliostat Cost Reduction

Tsvankin, Daniel; Muller, Matthew

doi:10.1115/1.4065433

Evaluation of Composite Structural Materials for Heliostat Cost Reduction

Journal Article · 30 April 2024 · Journal of Solar Energy Engineering

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1115/1.4065433· OSTI ID:2372874

Tsvankin, Daniel ^[1]; ^[1]

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

Structures manufactured from steel comprise up to 40% of a CSP heliostat's cost. Composite structures represent a potential opportunity to reduce this cost. A reference heliostat structural model has been created with a reflector area of 25m². The design, constructed of low-carbon steel, pro-vides baseline deflection and stiffness under a 21 m/s operating wind speeds. Wind loads on the tracker structure are determined for both operating and stow conditions. An established roster of suitable metal alternative materials is considered including: glass, basalt, and carbon reinforced polymer (GFRP, BFRP, and CFRP respectively). Three heliostat components are investigated: the pylon, torque tube, and the purlin-strut assembly. Composite material properties are substituted for those of steel, and the beams are re-sized to match the original steel components' deflection under given wind loads. Weight and cost changes resulting from this resizing are evaluated. It is found that GFRP and BFRP represent a 3X–6X cost premium for the same operating deflection character-istics as steel across all three investigated component classes; with weight reduction only achieved for the purlin-strut assembly. While CFRP components can achieve approximately 25–75% weight savings depending on the application, this comes with a 9X–14X cost increase over the steel base-line for tube-type structures and roughly 5X cost increase when replacing c-channel structures. This work does not rule out the possibility of cost savings when the heliostat design and kinematics to take advantage of composites' specific properties.

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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

DOE Contract Number:: AC36-08GO28308

OSTI ID:: 2372874

Report Number(s):: NREL/JA-5K00-88035; MainId:88810; UUID:51565ed0-ffba-45bc-a53b-acc9d08d36bd; MainAdminId:72609

Journal Information:: Journal of Solar Energy Engineering, Journal Name: Journal of Solar Energy Engineering; ISSN 0199-6231

Publisher:: ASME

Country of Publication:: United States

Language:: English

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14 SOLAR ENERGY
36 MATERIALS SCIENCE
clean energy
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efficiency
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heliostat
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renewable
solar receiver
structural composite
sustainability
techno-economic analysis

Evaluation of Composite Structural Materials for Heliostat Cost Reduction

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