Experimental flux measurement of a high-flux solar simulator using a Lambertian target and a thermopile flux sensor

Performance improvements of the KTH high-flux solar simulator

“…The performance characterization of the HFSS and each single lamp/lens-combination was performed using a system consisting of a water-cooled Lambertian target, a water-cooled thermopile flux sensor and CMOS camera equipped with neutral density (ND) filters [2]. In the experimental setup shown in Fig.…”

“…A point measurement of the peak flux using the water-cooled thermopile flux sensor was used to calibrate the gray value image. The characterization performed in [2] showed that the exemplary lamp/lens combination #4 concentrated light at the focal plane with a peak flux of 675kW/m² (± 3.6%) with a corresponding power on target of 831W within an aperture of 280mm in diameter. …”

“…(2) where C Λ denotes the spectral correction factor and C s the shape correction factor needed to account for systematic effects as presented in previous work by the authors [2]. P sensor denotes the total power measured by the flux sensor that is converted into to the mean flux ̅ shown by the flux sensor using a gain factor based on the aperture area A ap of the flux sensor.…”

“…P sensor denotes the total power measured by the flux sensor that is converted into to the mean flux ̅ shown by the flux sensor using a gain factor based on the aperture area A ap of the flux sensor. The spectral correction factor is needed as the impinging light onto the flux sensor is composed of various wavelengths and the spectral absorptance of the sensor is non-uniform whereas the shape correction factor is needed as the aperture of the flux sensor has a finite dimension measuring the mean flux at the aperture instead of the peak flux [2].…”

“…(a) (b) In previous work by the authors, the performance of the HFSS and each individual lamp/lens-combinations was characterized using a measurement system based on a water-cooled Lambertian target and a thermopile flux sensor placed close to the focal spot of the solar simulator [2,3]. The results showed that there is potential for increasing the total power delivered on target in order to test solar receivers with nominal powers and fluxes even closer to real CSP systems.…”