Optical and thermal characterization procedure for a variable geometry concentrator: A standard approach

• A comparative of standard testing methods for solar concentrator has been done.
• A solar thermal collector with a fixed mirror concentrator has been tested.
• The optical behavior has been calculated, using a ray-tracing simulation program.
• The optical results have been used as a hypothesis for the efficiency curve.
• Some suggestions are made for future standard revisions.

Concentrating solar collectors are mentioned in the International Standards, but the general testing methods for solar collectors mentioned cannot easily be applied to such unusual collector designs. In this study, the best optical and thermal model for a variable geometry solar concentrator has been investigated. In the particular case of a collector with a fixed mirror concentrator, the relative position of the receiver with respect to the reflector is not constant during the day, and this variable geometry is not taken into account in the current testing Standards. An optical characterization of the prototype using a ray-tracing program has been performed, and the results have been used as an initial hypothesis to define two thermal models adapted from the European Standard. Those two different models have been compared. The optical results obtained from experiments have been compared to ray-tracing simulation results, and they have been found to be quite similar, considering the measurement uncertainties. This validation procedure of the optical simulation could be an important point to be taken into account in a future Standard revision for variable geometry collector types for which the normal incidence is not easy to obtain.