Merit Figures for the Optical Design of CSP Plants

This work proposes some optical merit figures useful for solar concentration in the phase of optical design. The examined systems are CSP (concentrated solar power) plants with heliostats fields. In order to characterize them, it is suggested to use some optical merit figures, applicable to every CSP plant and synthetize its optical performance. The proposed merit figures have the aim of assessing mirrors field efficiency and receiver optical efficiency. In particular, they are identified using a new definition of the input flux on the mirrors field. The practical advantage of using the optical merit figures is illustrated by means of a simulation.