Abstract
Reducing the costs of heliostats is crucial for the worldwide deployment of Concentrated Solar Power (CSP). CSP offers a number of advantages over photovoltaic at large scale power generation, such as lower cost and the option of thermal energy storage. However, the costs of a power tower plant are dominated by heliostats, which are usually 50% of the entire facility. NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory was awarded funding by the DOE SunShot Initiative to develop a low-cost, rigid foam-based solar concentrator to meet installed cost goals of $75/m2 vs. current costs of ~ $200-250/m2. The design approach was validated by building and testing of a small-scale (6m2) heliostat prototype. Based on the findings of this prototype costs estimates for high production volume using industrial manufacturing technologies were conducted. The findings of these studies as well as lessons learned from manufacturing of the prototype are presented in this paper.
Original language | English |
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Number of pages | 8 |
Publication status | Published - Nov 2016 |
Event | 2016 IEEE Green Energy and Systems Conference - Long Beach, Ca., United States Duration: 5 Nov 2016 → 7 Nov 2016 |
Conference
Conference | 2016 IEEE Green Energy and Systems Conference |
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Abbreviated title | IGESC |
Country/Territory | United States |
City | Long Beach, Ca. |
Period | 5/11/16 → 7/11/16 |