Outdoor testing of advanced optical materials for solar thermal electric applications

摘要

The development of low-cost, durable advanced optical materials is an important element in making solar energy viable for electricity production. It is important to determine the expected lifetime of candidate reflector materials in real-world service conditions. The demonstration of the optical durability of such materials in outdoor environments is critical to the successful commercialization of solar thermal electric technologies. For many years optical performance data have been collected and analyzed by the National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) for candidate reflector materials subjected to simulated outdoor exposure conditions. Much of this testing is accelerated in order to predict service durability. Some outdoor testing has occurred but not in a systematic manner. To date, simulated/accelerated testing has been limited correlation with actual outdoor exposure testing. Such a correlation is desirable to provide confidence in lifetime predictions based upon accelerated weathering methods. To obtain outdoor exposure data for realistic environments and to establish a data base for correlating simulated/accelerated outdoor exposure data with actual outdoor exposure data, the development of an expanded outdoor testing program has recently been initiated by NREL. Several outdoor test sites will be selected based on the solar climate, potential for solar energy utilization by industry, and cost of installation. Test results are site dependent because exposure conditions vary with geographical location. The importance of this program to optical materials development is outlined, and the process used to determine and establish the outdoor test sites is described. Candidate material identification and selection is also discussed.