Page 309 - Handbook of Energy Engineering Calculations

FIGURE 1 Solar-generating-method schematic traces flow of heat-
transfer fluid. (Luz International Ltd. and Power.)

Collection troughs in the Mojave Desert plant are rear surface mirrors bent
into the correct parabolic shape. These specially designed mirrors focus
sunlight onto heat-collection elements (HCE). Each mirror is washed every 2

weeks with demineralized water to remove normal dust blown off the desert.
The mirrors must be clean to focus the optimal amount of the sun’s heat on
the HCE.

3. Detail the sun collector arrangement and orientation

With the parabolic mirrors described above, sun sensors begin tracking the
sun before dawn. Microprocessors prompt the troughs to follow the sun,
rotating 180° each day. A central computer facility at the Mojave Desert plant
monitors and controls each of the hundreds of individual solar collectors in

the field and all of the power plant equipment and systems.
During summer months when solar radiation is strongest, some mirrors