Tilt–Roll Heliostats and Non-Flat Heliostat Field Topographies for Compact, Energy-Dense Rooftop-Scale and Urban Central Receiver Solar Thermal Systems for Sustainable Industrial Process Heat
Industrial process heat typically requires large amounts of fossil fuels. Solar energy, while abundant and free, has low energy density, and so large collector areas are needed to meet thermal needs. Land costs in developed areas are often prohibitively high, making rooftop-based concentrating solar...
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MDPI AG
2025-01-01
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| Online Access: | https://www.mdpi.com/1996-1073/18/2/426 |
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| author | Joshua Freeman Walajabad Sampath Krishnashree Achuthan |
| author_facet | Joshua Freeman Walajabad Sampath Krishnashree Achuthan |
| author_sort | Joshua Freeman |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Industrial process heat typically requires large amounts of fossil fuels. Solar energy, while abundant and free, has low energy density, and so large collector areas are needed to meet thermal needs. Land costs in developed areas are often prohibitively high, making rooftop-based concentrating solar power (CSP) attractive. However, limited rooftop space and the low energy density of solar power are usually insufficient to meet a facility’s demands. Maximizing annual CSP energy generation within a bounded rooftop space is necessary to mitigate fossil fuel consumption. This is a different optimization objective than minimizing the Levelized Cost of Energy (LCOE) in typical open-land, utility-scale heliostat layout optimization. Innovative designs are necessary, such as compact, energy-dense central receiver systems with non-flat heliostat field topographies that use spatially efficient Tilt–Roll heliostats or multi-rooftop and multi-height distributed urban systems. A novel ray-tracing simulation tool was developed to evaluate these unique scenarios. For compact systems, optimized annual energy production occurred with maximum heliostat spatial density, and the best non-flat heliostat field topography found is a shallow section of a parabolic cylinder with an East–West focal axis, yielding a 10% optical energy improvement. Tightly packed Tilt–Roll heliostats showed a double improvement in optical energy at the receiver compared to Azimuth–Elevation heliostats. |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj-art-2fe94f4c3a914ef89cfccb0810c5cdf2 |
| institution | Kabale University |
| issn | 1996-1073 |
| language | English |
| publishDate | 2025-01-01 |
| publisher | MDPI AG |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Energies |
| spelling | doaj-art-2fe94f4c3a914ef89cfccb0810c5cdf22025-01-24T13:31:27ZengMDPI AGEnergies1996-10732025-01-0118242610.3390/en18020426Tilt–Roll Heliostats and Non-Flat Heliostat Field Topographies for Compact, Energy-Dense Rooftop-Scale and Urban Central Receiver Solar Thermal Systems for Sustainable Industrial Process HeatJoshua Freeman0Walajabad Sampath1Krishnashree Achuthan2College of Engineering, Amritapuri Campus, Amrita University, Kollam 690525, Kerala, IndiaDepartment of Mechanical Engineering, Colorado State University, Fort Collins, CO 80521, USACollege of Engineering, Amritapuri Campus, Amrita University, Kollam 690525, Kerala, IndiaIndustrial process heat typically requires large amounts of fossil fuels. Solar energy, while abundant and free, has low energy density, and so large collector areas are needed to meet thermal needs. Land costs in developed areas are often prohibitively high, making rooftop-based concentrating solar power (CSP) attractive. However, limited rooftop space and the low energy density of solar power are usually insufficient to meet a facility’s demands. Maximizing annual CSP energy generation within a bounded rooftop space is necessary to mitigate fossil fuel consumption. This is a different optimization objective than minimizing the Levelized Cost of Energy (LCOE) in typical open-land, utility-scale heliostat layout optimization. Innovative designs are necessary, such as compact, energy-dense central receiver systems with non-flat heliostat field topographies that use spatially efficient Tilt–Roll heliostats or multi-rooftop and multi-height distributed urban systems. A novel ray-tracing simulation tool was developed to evaluate these unique scenarios. For compact systems, optimized annual energy production occurred with maximum heliostat spatial density, and the best non-flat heliostat field topography found is a shallow section of a parabolic cylinder with an East–West focal axis, yielding a 10% optical energy improvement. Tightly packed Tilt–Roll heliostats showed a double improvement in optical energy at the receiver compared to Azimuth–Elevation heliostats.https://www.mdpi.com/1996-1073/18/2/426concentrating solar thermalcentral receiverTilt–Roll heliostatray-tracing simulationnon-flat heliostat field layoutindustrial rooftop scale |
| spellingShingle | Joshua Freeman Walajabad Sampath Krishnashree Achuthan Tilt–Roll Heliostats and Non-Flat Heliostat Field Topographies for Compact, Energy-Dense Rooftop-Scale and Urban Central Receiver Solar Thermal Systems for Sustainable Industrial Process Heat Energies concentrating solar thermal central receiver Tilt–Roll heliostat ray-tracing simulation non-flat heliostat field layout industrial rooftop scale |
| title | Tilt–Roll Heliostats and Non-Flat Heliostat Field Topographies for Compact, Energy-Dense Rooftop-Scale and Urban Central Receiver Solar Thermal Systems for Sustainable Industrial Process Heat |
| title_full | Tilt–Roll Heliostats and Non-Flat Heliostat Field Topographies for Compact, Energy-Dense Rooftop-Scale and Urban Central Receiver Solar Thermal Systems for Sustainable Industrial Process Heat |
| title_fullStr | Tilt–Roll Heliostats and Non-Flat Heliostat Field Topographies for Compact, Energy-Dense Rooftop-Scale and Urban Central Receiver Solar Thermal Systems for Sustainable Industrial Process Heat |
| title_full_unstemmed | Tilt–Roll Heliostats and Non-Flat Heliostat Field Topographies for Compact, Energy-Dense Rooftop-Scale and Urban Central Receiver Solar Thermal Systems for Sustainable Industrial Process Heat |
| title_short | Tilt–Roll Heliostats and Non-Flat Heliostat Field Topographies for Compact, Energy-Dense Rooftop-Scale and Urban Central Receiver Solar Thermal Systems for Sustainable Industrial Process Heat |
| title_sort | tilt roll heliostats and non flat heliostat field topographies for compact energy dense rooftop scale and urban central receiver solar thermal systems for sustainable industrial process heat |
| topic | concentrating solar thermal central receiver Tilt–Roll heliostat ray-tracing simulation non-flat heliostat field layout industrial rooftop scale |
| url | https://www.mdpi.com/1996-1073/18/2/426 |
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