A new method for the selection of candidates for shading and blocking in central receiver systems

• Published in: Renewable energy 2020-06, Vol.152, p.961-973
• Main Authors: Ortega, Guillermo, Rovira, Antonio
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Central receiver; Concentrated solar power; Heliostat field design; Shading and blocking calculation
• ISSN: 0960-1481; 1879-0682
• DOI: 10.1016/j.renene.2020.01.130

This paper presents a method for the selection of candidates for shading and blocking in central receiver systems (CRS). The main advantage of this algorithm is that it produces a reduced list of candidates with no upper limit on the total number, and it selects only those heliostats which produce real shading or blocking, eliminating redundant candidates. The objective is to contribute to a reduction in the execution times of the shading and blocking efficiency calculation in CRS, without a significant drop in accuracy. The method consists of three filtering levels, which progressively reduce the number of candidates, and it is specifically designed for use in performance simulation and optimisation applications for CRS. Its performance in this context has been compared with that of other selection algorithms, in terms of the number of selected candidates for each method and the execution times for determining the annual shading and blocking efficiency. The results indicate that the proposed method reduces the list of selected candidates to nearly 23% of those selected by other methods (spheres method) and up to 22% the execution times without affecting the numerical efficiency results. •Determination of a list of heliostats candidates for shading and blocking.•Number of candidates is not limited.•The method selects only those heliostats which produce real shading or blocking.•Redundant candidates at times of reduced solar height are removed.•Suitable for fast and accuracy shading and blocking efficiency calculation.