Abstract:
Concentrated solar power is a growing but expensive alternative energy resource. One of the most
common issues faced when it comes to solar dish design is the complex trade-off between cost and
optical quality. A novel solar dish reflector setup that makes use of low-cost, commercial television
satellite dishes to support aluminised plastic membranes in a multifaceted vacuum-membrane
concentrator was investigated in this work. The design aims to reduce costs while maintaining high
optical accuracy with the added benefit of optical adjustability. The flux distribution of the novel
solar dish reflector setup had to be determined to make recommendations on the feasibility of the
design. This research presents a method to determine the expected solar flux distribution from lunar
tests using a Canon EOS 700D camera. Experimental tests and different pollution treatment
methods were conducted using lunar flux mapping techniques. A numerical model of the
experimental setup, based on photogrammetry results of the membrane surface, was also developed
in SolTrace to ascertain the sources of error and allow for further design improvements. Preliminary
testing proved that JPEG image formats yielded insufficient accuracy in capturing the incident flux
when compared to RAW images. Based on the flux ratio maps, the intercept factor for a large
multifaceted dish setup was calculated as 88.6% for an aperture size of 0.25 m × 0.25 m, with a
maximum solar flux of 1 395 kW/m2 for a 1 000 W/m2 test case.
