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Modeling receiver flux of commercial power tower concentrating solar power plants using ray tracing: a round-robin comparison of SolTrace, Solstice, and TieSOL

Journal Article · · Solar Energy
 [1];  [2];  [3];  [2];  [1]
  1. National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL), Golden, CO (United States)
  2. Australian National Univ., Canberra (Australia)
  3. Tietronix Software Inc., Houston, TX (United States)
+ Show Author Affiliations
This study presents a multi-stage, cross-validation comparison of three software packages for Monte Carlo ray tracing (MCRT) applied to central tower concentrating solar power (CSP) systems. The three packages evaluated are: (1) SolTrace, an open-source tool developed by the National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL); (2) Solstice, an open-source program created by CNRS-PROMES and Meso-Star, with enhancements for CSP applications (called solsticepy) from the Australian National University; and (3) TieSOL, a commercial software developed by Tietronix. This investigation extends previous ray tracing comparisons by incorporating models of multi-facet heliostats within a commercial-scale solar field, taking into account zoned focal lengths and canting configurations. Receiver flux distributions were compared across the tools using a series of case studies, including single-heliostat scenarios, isolated blocking situations, and comprehensive full-field simulations. The case studies were designed to diagnose differences across the models at varying levels of complexity, and to identify and resolve discrepancies as additional parameters were introduced. Key factors examined in the analysis include sun positions, heliostat location, facet and canting focus, and aimpoint strategies. The comparison aims to improve the accuracy and reliability of these tools while providing benchmark cases for validating future optical modeling tools.
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:
2586403
Report Number(s):
NREL/JA--5700-91826
Journal Information:
Solar Energy, Journal Name: Solar Energy Vol. 300; ISSN 0038-092X
Publisher:
Elsevier BVCopyright Statement
Country of Publication:
United States
Language:
English

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Related Subjects

14 SOLAR ENERGY
concentrating solar thermal
heliostat field
optical simulations
round-robin
verification