Solar glare reflections and avian solar-flux hazards are an important concern for concentrating solar installations. Reflected sunlight from “standby” heliostats has been noted by pilots as potentially hazardous, and reports of birds being singed by concentrated sunlight has created concern. This paper presents the Tower Illuminance Model (“TIM”), a software application developed to investigate glare and avian-flux hazards at concentrating solar power towers in a convenient and interactive manner. TIM simulates a field of heliostats in standby mode, wherein sunlight is not reflected toward the central receiver but at some location in the airspace around the receiver. The user can select a range of aiming strategies and field configurations and can navigate the simulated airspace above the heliostat field in real-time using an interactive 3D interface. As the user “flies” through the airspace, TIM calculates the irradiance, glare hazard, and potential avian flux hazard. TIM is currently undergoing validation and industry testing.
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8 November 2018
SolarPACES 2017: International Conference on Concentrating Solar Power and Chemical Energy Systems
26–29 September 2017
Santiago, Chile
Research Article|
November 08 2018
Tower illuminance model (TIM): Interactive real-time flyover simulation tool to evaluate glare and avian-flux hazards
Cianan A. Sims;
Cianan A. Sims
a)
1M.S.,
Sims Industries, LLC
, 6077 Far Hills Ave. #101, Centerville, Ohio 45459, USA
a)Corresponding author: cianan@simsindustries.com
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Clifford K. Ho;
Clifford K. Ho
b)
2Ph.D.,
Sandia National Laboratories
, P.O. Box 5800, MS-1127, Albuquerque, NM 87185-1127, USA
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Luke Horstman;
Luke Horstman
2Ph.D.,
Sandia National Laboratories
, P.O. Box 5800, MS-1127, Albuquerque, NM 87185-1127, USA
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Timothy Wendelin;
Timothy Wendelin
3M.S.,
National Renewable Energy Laboratory
, Golden, CO 80401, USA
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Julius E. Yellowhair
Julius E. Yellowhair
2Ph.D.,
Sandia National Laboratories
, P.O. Box 5800, MS-1127, Albuquerque, NM 87185-1127, USA
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a)Corresponding author: cianan@simsindustries.com
AIP Conf. Proc. 2033, 210017 (2018)
Citation
Cianan A. Sims, Clifford K. Ho, Luke Horstman, Timothy Wendelin, Julius E. Yellowhair; Tower illuminance model (TIM): Interactive real-time flyover simulation tool to evaluate glare and avian-flux hazards. AIP Conf. Proc. 8 November 2018; 2033 (1): 210017. https://doi.org/10.1063/1.5067219
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