STRETCHED TAPE DESIGN OF FIXED MIRROR SOLAR CONCENTRATOR WITH CURVED MIRROR ELEMENTS

The optical design of a fixed mirror line-focus solar concentrator, us ing curved mirror elements whose radius of curvature is matched to the radius of the reference cylinder of the concentrator, is presented. I t is shown that this design leads to a considerable decrease in the tr ansverse width of the focal intensity profile as compared with a fixed mirror solar concentrator of similar design made of flat mirror eleme nts, and thus enables reduction in the cost of the heat receiver assem bly. The development of a stretched tape construction of a 12 m x 3 m fixed mirror solar concentrator, conforming to the above design by usi ng cold rolled steel tapes with constant levels of curvature across th eir width as substrates for the curved mirror elements, is briefly rep orted. Results from optical tests on the concentrator, which confirm t he predictions from the theoretical model of the optics of the concent rator, are presented.