Parabolic Trouogh Optical Characterization at the National Renewable Energy Laboratory

Conference · Sat Jan 01 04:00:00 EST 2005

OSTI ID:860937

Wendelin, T J

Solar parabolic trough power plant projects are soon to be implemented in the United States and internationally. In addition to these new projects, parabolic trough power plants totaling approximately 350 MW already exist within the United States and have operated for close to 20 years. As such, the status of the technology exists within several different phases. Theses phases include R&D, manufacturing and installation, and operations and maintenance. One aspect of successful deployment of this technology is achieving and maintaining optical performance. Different optical tools are needed to assist in improving initial designs, provide quality control during manufacture and assembly, and help maintain performance during operation. This paper discusses several such tools developed at SunLab (a joint project of the National Renewable Laboratory and Sandia National Laboratories) for these purposes. Preliminary testing results are presented. Finally, plans for further tool development are discussed.

• Research Organization: National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL), Golden, CO.
• Sponsoring Organization: USDOE
• DOE Contract Number: AC36-99GO10337
• OSTI ID: 860937
• Report Number(s): NREL/CP-550-37101
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

14 SOLAR ENERGY
32 ENERGY CONSERVATION, CONSUMPTION, AND UTILIZATION
47 OTHER INSTRUMENTATION
LINE FOCUS OPTICAL CHARACTERIZATION SYSTEM (LFOCS)
MAINTENANCE
MANUFACTURER
MANUFACTURING
MIRROR MODULE
NATIONAL RENEWABLE ENERGY LABORATORY
OPTICAL PERFORMANCE
PARABOLIC TROUGH
PERFORMANCE
POWER PLANTS
PV
QUALITY CONTROL
RESEARCH AND DEVELOPMENT
SANDIA NATIONAL LABORATORIES
SOLAR ENERGY
Solar Energy - Thermal
TESTING
VIDEO SCANNING HARTMANN OPTICAL TEST (VSHOT)