Thermal and concentration performance for a wide range of available offset dish solar concentrators

This article incorporates an opto-geometric model to estimate the theoretical energy concentration performance of solar concentrators with Offset Parabolic Satellite Dishes (OPSDs). In addition, new methodologies and results are presented to characterize the solar energy capacities of offset reflectors of different sizes by means of computational simulations. The solar energy concentration capacity of these concentrators is evaluated for different aperture areas associated with commercially available OPSDs. The mathematical model is validated by comparing the results obtained by the simulator with the experimental results for an offset concentrator with a 0.7-m aperture diameter used to heat water in an open circuit with a serpentine receptor. Based on the numerical study, offset reflectors are available in a wide range of thermal energy concentration capacities ranging from 0.071 kWt to 5.08 kWt, with a receiver image width that varies from 0.006 m to 0.7 m. This range corresponds to collector aperture diameters of 0.45 m to 3.8 m. The offset concentrator is compared to other types of dish concentrators, and the results show that the cost of the OPSD concentrator is the lowest (0.47 €/Wt). Additionally, the geometric concentration value (958) is very similar to those of other offset concentrator geometries. Finally, due to the advantages of operation and maintenance and the high availability and low cost of offset reflectors, the potential for using these reflectors in solar energy applications should be evaluated based on the results and methodology outlined in this article.