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Review of heliostat calibration and tracking control methods

  • Large scale central receiver systems typically deploy between thousands to more than a hundred thousand heliostats. During solar operation, each heliostat is aligned individually in such a way that the overall surface normal bisects the angle between the sun’s position and the aim point coordinate on the receiver. Due to various tracking error sources, achieving accurate alignment ≤1 mrad for all the heliostats with respect to the aim points on the receiver without a calibration system can be regarded as unrealistic. Therefore, a calibration system is necessary not only to improve the aiming accuracy for achieving desired flux distributions but also to reduce or eliminate spillage. An overview of current larger-scale central receiver systems (CRS), tracking error sources and the basic requirements of an ideal calibration system is presented. Leading up to the main topic, a description of general and specific terms on the topics heliostat calibration and tracking control clarifies the terminology used in this work. Various figures illustrate the signal flows along various typical components as well as the corresponding monitoring or measuring devices that indicate or measure along the signal (or effect) chain. The numerous calibration systems are described in detail and classified in groups. Two tables allow the juxtaposition of the calibration methods for a better comparison. In an assessment, the advantages and disadvantages of individual calibration methods are presented.

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Metadaten
Author:Johannes, Christoph SattlerORCiD, Marc Röger, Peter Schwarzbözl, Reiner Buck, Ansgar Macke, Christian Raeder, Joachim GöttscheORCiD
DOI:https://doi.org/10.1016/j.solener.2020.06.030
Parent Title (English):Solar Energy
Publisher:Elsevier
Place of publication:Amsterdam
Document Type:Article
Language:English
Year of Completion:2020
Date of the Publication (Server):2020/07/27
Volume:207
First Page:110
Last Page:132
Link:https://doi.org/10.1016/j.solener.2020.06.030
Zugriffsart:weltweit
Institutes:FH Aachen / Fachbereich Energietechnik
FH Aachen / Solar-Institut Jülich
collections:Verlag / Elsevier
Open Access / Hybrid
Licence (German):License LogoCreative Commons - Namensnennung