Abstract:
Concentrating solar power systems currently have a high capital cost when
compared with other energy generating systems. The solar energy is captured in the
form of thermal energy rather than directly electrical, which is attractive as thermal
energy is easier and currently cheaper to store in large amounts. It is also used
directly as processing heat including desalination and water purification. For the
technology to compete against other generating systems it is important to reduce the
electrical energy cost to the $0.05 per kilowatt-hour level. One of the significant
capital costs is the solar field, which contains the concentrators. To reduce the cost
of this field, novel constructions and improvements to the durability and lifetime of
the concentrators are required. Techniques for characterising the shape, durability
and optical properties of such novel mirrors are the focus of this thesis.
The thesis describes the development and validation of an inexpensive, highly
portable photogrammetry technique, which has been used to measure the shape of
large mirror facets for solar collectors. Photogrammetry has demonstrated its
versatility and portability by successful measurements across concentrating solar
power sites globally. The accuracy of the technique has been validated to show a
measurement capability of better than 100 µm using a large coordinate measuring
machine. Measurements performed on novel thin glass mirrors and their comparison
with conventional thick glass mirrors are presented, showing that the increased
flexibility of thin mirrors is an important consideration during installation, but that it is
possible for such novel mirrors to perform to the same level. ...[cont.]