Mirror field optimization model based on thermal power maximization

Abstract

Optimization of the heliostat field is very important in order to improve the performance of solar power tower (SPT) and reduce the construction cost. In this paper, we simulate and analyze the reflection relationship of the heliostats in the heliostat field and find the adjacent heliostats to the current heliostat by solving the distance matrix. The neighboring heliostats are projected onto the plane of the current heliostat, and the shadow-free region of the heliostat is obtained by the ray-tracing method and by considering the sunlight as a cone of light. The shadow blocking efficiency can be calculated based on the number of light strips in the region, and similarly the truncation efficiency can be calculated. Based on the circular heliostat field, a new cross-density distribution model based on the circular heliostat field is proposed. Under the condition of confirming the annual average thermal power, the distribution of the heliostat mirror field with the maximum thermal power per unit area, the optimal installation height and mirror size can be obtained.