Comparison of two methods used to evaluate the aggressivity of a Moroccan marine site on solar mirrors

Durability of solar mirrors under Moroccan marine environment has been studied for a period of 3 years. At this period, a study was focused on marine atmosphere zone and studied the deposition of chlorides on wet candle device and its relation with chlorides accumulated into mirrors surface. Four glass mirror types were placed at exposure racks located at a marine outdoor site near the sea. Periodically, salts deposited on mirrors surface and those captured on wet candle device were recovered and its salinity was monitored by using a portable conductivity meter from VWR EC300. The data collected showed that the marine salt deposition is significant regarding the short distance from the seashore. Relationships between the concentration of marine salts and site meteorological conditions are established. Comparison between wet candle sensor and concrete samples methods were discussed. Finally, this study shows that chloride deposition plays an important role as an environmental indicator on service-life analysis of solar mirrors in marine atmosphere zone and it can provide important data for the design and maintenance of CSP infrastructures in such environments.