Codes for solar flux calculation dedicated to central receiver system applications: A comparative review

As we need adapted software to calculate the solar flux concentration through a tower-heliostat field system, an overview of computer codes was performed, detailing their features, strengths and weaknesses. For this a questionnaire was sent to developers or heavy users of codes that are currently used in the concentrated solar power (CSP) community. Answers to this questionnaire make it possible to determine which tool is relevant depending on the objectives of the simulation. Modeling tools for central receiver systems (CRS) can be divided into two main categories, corresponding to two kinds of problems: on one hand those dedicated to system optimization and on the other hand those designed to detailed analysis of the optical performances. A bibliographic study on first generation and developing codes complements this overview of tools that may be interesting for CSP research or industry.