Selection of Sensors for Heliostat of Concentrated Solar Thermal Tower Power Plant

Abstract

As the energy demand of the world is rising, more and more efforts are being made to harness different forms of energy available. Current pollution due to fossil fuels has directed the world to shift to cleaner renewable energies, such as solar. Photovoltaic, as well as concentrated solar technologies, are developed to harness solar energy. The concentrated solar tower power plant is an emerging technology and is under development having vast areas of improvement. The efficiency of the concentrated solar tower power plant depends upon the accuracy of the tracking system of the heliostats placed all around the central tower of the plant. A closed-loop tracking system a feedback method is a need. In addition, to check the accuracy of the system, a calibration system is required. This system uses different types of sensors. In this study, an effort is made to enlist different types of sensors available and their use in the tracking system of the solar thermal tower power plant. In addition, different sensors are suggested that are best suited for calibration and correction purposes.