Concentrator Mirror Structure With Counterweight Hinge Balance
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Solution Overview
Problem
The high manufacturing and maintenance costs of concentrator mirrors in solar energy plants, along with complex manufacturing processes, hinder the cost-effectiveness and efficiency of solar energy generation.
Innovation Solution
A concentrator mirror structure featuring a pair of coaxial hollow seats with support ball joints and a rib-shaped counterweight, allowing for a simple, compact, and inexpensive design that facilitates easy installation and transportation, with the ability to be used in both flat and curved configurations, including parabolic 'tracking' mirrors.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If a complex hollow structure with curved surfaces and tubular beam members is used for the concentrator mirror, then the mirror can concentrate solar energy effectively, but the manufacturing cost and structural complexity increase significantly
Solution Approach 1:
The mirror structure is divided into separate functional components: a simple planar support plate, a reflective panel, and discrete mounting hardware. This segmentation allows each component to be manufactured independently using simple processes, eliminating the need for complex hollow structures while maintaining the ability to concentrate solar energy effectively.
Solution Approach 2:
The complex tubular beam members and curved hollow structures are extracted and replaced with a simple planar support plate. The essential function of supporting and positioning the mirror is achieved through this simplified structure, removing unnecessary complexity from the design.
2Strength
If a complex structure is used for the concentrator mirror, then the mirror can maintain structural integrity, but the manufacturing cost and installation time increase
Solution Approach 1:
The support structure uses simple, inexpensive planar plates and discrete mounting components that can be manufactured at low cost. While individually simpler, these components work together to provide adequate structural integrity for the mirror assembly, significantly reducing manufacturing costs compared to complex monolithic structures.
3Reliability
If a large-sized mirror structure is used to concentrate more solar energy, then the energy concentration capability increases, but the transportation and installation become more difficult
Solution Approach 1:
The mirror system is segmented into multiple independent mirror assemblies, each with its own simple support structure. This allows large-scale solar concentration to be achieved through parallel deployment of multiple manageable units rather than transporting and installing a single large complex structure.
Applied Scientific Principles
This section explains which scientific principles are used to turn an abstract innovation direction into a practical engineering solution.
Function Achieved in This Case
The solution reduces manufacturing and installation costs, enables quick and simple installation without specialized equipment, and requires minimal force to rotate, while maintaining high durability and efficiency in concentrating solar rays onto a receiver pipe, even if not perfectly focused, thereby increasing the concentration ratio.
Implementation Method 1
a concentrator mirror structure which is simple and inexpensive to be manufactured, having a great durability, requiring a low maintenance, allowing the time of installation of the mirror to be reduced in order to minimize manufacturing time of relevant plant compared to that required for the plants known so far, and in which rotation needed to direct it with respect to the Sun requires relatively small forces
Data Source
AI summary
The structure of a concentrator mirror includes a prefabricated body of reinforced concrete, which includes a panel member having a front surface with a reflective laminar layer, and a back surface, between which a hinge axis for the rotation of the panel is defined. A pair of coaxial hollow seats are formed in the body at respective longitudinally spaced positions, to define the hinge axis together with respective spherical joints. The body includes a rib shaped counterweight appendage extending parallel to the hinge axis from the back surface of the panel member, on the side opposite the front surface, so as to bring the hinge axis in a barycentric position of the body.