RAY-TRACING ANALYSIS OF A TWO-STAGE SOLAR CONCENTRATOR

A ray-tracing analysis was conducted on a 2-stage solar concentrator made of two parabolic mirrors created by Lunenburg Industrial Foundry & Engineering (LIFE). The effects of the secondary mirror's focal length, the distance between the secondary mirror and the target, and the misalignment with the sun were studied. The focal length of the secondary mirror determines the maximum local solar energy flux Phi that can be achieve on the target. For the optimal focal length of 157.9 '', a maximum Phi = 1.2 x 10(4) MW/m(2) was achieve compare to Phi = 1680 MW/m(2) for the initial LIFE's focal length of 158.8125 ''. The concentrator concentrates all the incident energy from the sun on the target, and that independently of the secondary mirror's focal length (within the range studied), as long as the target position is within an 11 cm zone. Small misalignments in the order of +/- 0.2 degrees would bring the concentration efficiency to zero.