Optical Analysis of Point Focus Parabolic Radiation Concentrators
A simple formalism is developed for analyzing the optical performance of point focus parabolic radiation concentrators. To account for off-axis aberrations of the parabola, an angular acceptance function is defined as that fraction of a beam of parallel radiation incident on the aperture which would reach the receiver if the optics were perfect. The radiation intercepted by the receiver of a real concentrator is obtained as a convolution of angular acceptance function, of optical error distribution, and of angular brightness distribution of the radiation source. Losses resulting from absorption in the reflector or reflection at the receiver are treated by a multiplicative factor rho ..cap alpha.. where rho = reflectance of the reflector and ..cap alpha.. = absorptance of the receiver. For numerical calculations, this method is more accurate and less time-consuming than the ray-tracing method. In many cases, there are acceptable approximations whereby the results can be obtained by reading a graph or evaluating a simple curve fit.
- Research Organization:
- National Renewable Energy Lab. (NREL), Golden, CO (United States)
- Sponsoring Organization:
- USDOE Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy (EERE)
- DOE Contract Number:
- AC36-08GO28308
- OSTI ID:
- 5358001
- Report Number(s):
- SERI/TR-631-336
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
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Related Subjects
PARABOLIC DISH COLLECTORS
OPTICS
PERFORMANCE
PARABOLIC REFLECTORS
ABSORPTIVITY
CALCULATION METHODS
GEOMETRICAL ABERRATIONS
NUMERICAL SOLUTION
RADIANT FLUX DENSITY
REFLECTION
REFLECTIVITY
SOLAR RECEIVERS
CONCENTRATING COLLECTORS
EQUIPMENT
FLUX DENSITY
OPTICAL PROPERTIES
PARABOLIC COLLECTORS
PHYSICAL PROPERTIES
SOLAR COLLECTORS
SOLAR CONCENTRATORS
SOLAR EQUIPMENT
SOLAR REFLECTORS
SURFACE PROPERTIES
parabolic dish collectors
optics
performance
parabolic reflectors
141000* - Solar Collectors & Concentrators