Geometric and Optical Efficiency Study for Solar Parabolic Trough Concentrator Using the Deflectometry Technique

Concentrating solar power (CSP) technologies are the most promising alternative to the high demand of electrical energy and to the consumption of fossil fuels. The purpose of this work is the technical study and the optical qualification of a solar parabolic trough concentrator assembled and installed in the research platform of Green Energy Park in Morocco (GEP-IRESEN Benguerir). The qualification of the mirrors is necessary to control the performance of the collector and the optical efficiency because the design of the parabolic shape of the mirrors seems very difficult and requires a high precision equipment. In this paper, deflectometry measurements are used to analyze the slope errors and determine the optical deformation of the collector. These results are then used with the ray tracing software (SOLTRACE) to calculate and analyze the optical efficiency of the collector. The comparison of nominal and the measured thermal energy is also performed. The final results show significant thermal energy losses due to the impact of the optical errors on the thermal efficiency and collector performance.