Session: 05-07 CSP System Analysis, Controls, and Standards

Paper Number: 117425

117425 - Progress Update on the Development of an Internationally-Recognized Heliostat Design Qualification Standard 

The U.S. Department of Energy has established a SunShot goal of 0.8 cents/kWh for the levelized cost of heat (LCOH) from concentrating solar-thermal plants. An inital parametric study by Heliocon—the Heliostat Consortium—in a heliostat cost-reduction roadmap study indicates that the current baseline LCOH ranges from 2.05 to 3.33 cents/kWH. The study also finds that LCOH exhibits greater sensitivity to small O&M cost reductions than to similarly-scaled improvements to heliostat field reflectance. Decreasing O&M costs are therefore an important tool to achieving overall LCOH targets.

Internationally-recognized standards for the qualification of heliostats—and heliostat fields—are integral to reducing O&M costs, improving plant output, and ultimately reducing LCOH. To this end, a working group has been assembled to construct a heliostat design qualification standard for publication under IEC TC 117: Solar thermal electric plants. This group comprises experts from seven countries across academia, government, and industry. A scope and outline for the document have completed and submitted as a new work item proposal (NP) to IEC TC 117. Per the outline, the standard will comprise a complete specifications sheet for manufacturer and third-party test data to be reported, a harmonized index of heliostat-specific performance error definitions, optical performance testing and simulation, mechanical validation, mechanical performance quantification, environmental testing, electronics bench testing, and specifications for the packaging and shipping of heliostat units. Work on a complete committed draft (CD) is ongoing, with the specifications sheet and performance error definitions having been completed. Each section of the document will incorporate existing standards, guidelines, and research, in addition to best practices developed by the CSP industry. Completion is projected for the end of calendar year 2024.

Presenting Author: Daniel Tsvankin NREL

Presenting Author Biography: Daniel Tsvankin works at NREL on the Components and Controls subtask of the Heliostat Consortium (Heliocon), a multi-year effort to reduce the per-meter cost of heliostats for concentrating solar-thermal power. His focii include the design and testing of electromechanical systems and the development of standards.