Solar Concentrating Research Facilities

50kW High-Flux Solar Simulator

PSI's High-Flux Solar Simulator (HFSS), comprises an array of ten 15 kW_e high-pressure Xenon arcs, each closed-coupled with truncated ellipsoidal specular reflectors of common focus. It provides an external source of intense thermal radiation that closely approximates the heat transfer characteristics of highly concentrating solar systems, such as solar towers and solar furnaces; yet it enables experimental work under controlled steady and unsteady conditions for reproducible measurements and model validation, regardless of weather conditions. Each Xe-arc can be switched on and off individually, allowing for adjustment of the radiative power input into the chemical reactor. The radiation flux distribution in the focal plane is measured optically by recording the image on a Lambertian target, acquired by a fast CCD camera equipped with optical filters. This facility is able to deliver a total radiative power of 50 kW with a peak radiative flux exceeding 10,000 suns. The total radiative power intercepted by a 6-cm diameter circular target – representing the reactor's aperture – is 20 kW, and the average radiative power flux over this aperture is more than 7,000 suns. Such high radiation fluxes correspond to stagnation blackbody temperatures exceeding 3300 K. Further coupling with a tandem 3D-CPC may augment the power flux concentration by approximately 90%. Thus, PSI's HFSS features the world's highest performance level of combined radiative power and power flux.

 

Technical information: Petrasch J., Coray P., Meier A., Brack M., Haeberling P., Wuillemin D., Steinfeld A., "A 50-kW 11,000-suns novel high-flux solar simulator based on an array of Xenon arc lamps", ASME Journal of Solar Energy Engineering, Vol. 129, No. 4, pp. 405-411, 2007.