Parabolic solar dish concentrator with sphere receiver is less studied. We present an analytic function to calculate the intercept factor of the system with real sun brightness distribution and Gaussian distribution, the results indicate that the intercept factor is related to the rim angle of...

Parabolic trough collectors were investigated, applying the study results to a plant prototype installed in Florence (Italy) for residential supply. Ray tracing simulations examined optical characteristics and collection performance on the base of prototype geometry and functionality. The...

The optical design of a concentration system for a solar furnace is studied, proposing several possible solutions. The foreseen use of this solar furnace is to test components and methodologies for solar applications. The analysis assesses and compares the optical performances of several...

Optical system design has a significant impact on solar power plant efficiency. It can be advantageous to be able to very precisely adapt mirror shapes in order to improve energy yield. In this article it is investigated whether it is feasible to use non-uniform rational Béziers splines (NURBS)...

The tracking and ray tracing equations for the target-aligned heliostat for solar tower power plants have been derived in this paper. Based on the equations, a new module for analysis of the target-aligned heliostat with an asymmetric surface has been developed and incorporated in the code HFLD....

The ray tracing equations for the beam-down solar concentrator have been derived in this paper. Based on the equations, a new module for the simulation of the beam-down solar concentrating system has been developed and incorporated into the code HFLD. To validate the ray tracing equations, a...

A novel configuration of solar concentrator, which is the non-imaging planar concentrator, capable of producing much more uniform sunlight and reasonably high concentration ratio, is designed and constructed. This design is envisioned to be incorporated in concentrator photovoltaic (CPV)...

A graphical method to estimate the efficiency of a solar concentrator used for heating and boiling liquids is described. The method involves the measuring of temperature of stagnated liquid in the absorber as a function of time at noon. The graphically estimated efficiency is within 5% of the...

A method for power generation combining a solar concentration system and a pneumatic power tube system in a large open pit is described. Solar energy is concentrated by a plurality of heliostat mirrors placed along the embankment of the pit, which tends to be spherical in contour. The pneumatic...