NEW SILICONE-BASED LENSES FOR LOW COST CONCENTRATED SOLAR HEAT

Development of better and more durable flat transmissive lenses for Heliac’s flat concentrated solar power concept. The concept can produce low-cost heat at temperatures in the range of 95-400C. Currently the concept has been demonstrated in a full-scale demonstrator for district heating using thermoplastic Fresnel lenses with an estimated lifetime of 3-5 years. Upon end-of-life, the lenses can be replaced by peeling of the polymer film and replacing it with a new one. However, using more durable materials, such as silicones, to ensure 25-year lifetime, as well as developing better lens geometries to increase safety will make the concept even more competitive. The design and manufacturing development of the better lenses will be performed along with efficiency testing at DTU Byg, and full scale testing at E.On Lendemarke varmeværk will be performed to monitor real life performance over longer timespans. This will be supplemented by accelerated UV testing experiments to explore the plausibility of 25 years lifetime.