The optical efficiency of the solar field heliostats of a Concentrating Solar Power (CSP) tower plant is a fundamental parameter to assess the productivity of the plant. The optical efficiency is mainly affected by the position of the sun in the sky during the year, and by the cleanliness level of the heliostats, which is related to their reflectance. The reflectance is continuously diminished by the deposition of dust on the heliostat surface (that is, soiling). Natural cleaning events, as rain, are rare in typical locations for CSP plants, so artificial cleaning is the most common technique used to maintain the optical efficiency (heliostat reflectance) as close as possible to its optimal value in order to maximize the overall production and thus the revenues of the CSP plant. This paper provides a methodology to assess the soiling of a heliostat field and then evaluates the impact of artificial cleaning on the optical efficiency, considering different frequencies of cleaning in four different scenarios. The outcome of this study is a considerable step forward towards the optimization of costly cleaning activities to minimize operation costs in solar power technologies.
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25 July 2019
SolarPACES 2018: International Conference on Concentrating Solar Power and Chemical Energy Systems
2–5 October 2018
Casablanca, Morocco
Research Article|
July 25 2019
Modelling the soiling of heliostats: Assessment of the optical efficiency and impact of cleaning operations
Giovanni Picotti;
Giovanni Picotti
a)
1PhD Candidate, MSc graduated in
Energy Engineering, Queensland University of Technology
, 2 George St, 4000, Brisbane, QLD, Australia
, +3902239938422PhD Candidate,
Politecnico di Milano, via Lambruschini 4A
, 20156, Milan, Italy
a)Corresponding author: [email protected]
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Marco Binotti;
Marco Binotti
3Assistant Professor,
Politecnico di Milano, via Lambruschini 4A
, 20156, Milan, Italy
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Michael E. Cholette;
Michael E. Cholette
4Senior Lecturer,
Queensland University of Technology
, 2 George St, 4000, Brisbane, QLD, Australia
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Pietro Borghesani;
Pietro Borghesani
5Senior Lecturer,
UNSW Sydney
, NSW 2052, Australia
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Giampaolo Manzolini;
Giampaolo Manzolini
6Associate Professor,
Politecnico di Milano, via Lambruschini 4A
, 20156, Milan, Italy
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Ted Steinberg
Ted Steinberg
7Professor,
Queensland University of Technology
, 2 George St, 4000, Brisbane, QLD, Australia
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a)Corresponding author: [email protected]
AIP Conf. Proc. 2126, 030043 (2019)
Citation
Giovanni Picotti, Marco Binotti, Michael E. Cholette, Pietro Borghesani, Giampaolo Manzolini, Ted Steinberg; Modelling the soiling of heliostats: Assessment of the optical efficiency and impact of cleaning operations. AIP Conf. Proc. 25 July 2019; 2126 (1): 030043. https://doi.org/10.1063/1.5117555
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