Thousands of solar panels

[Leo Maximus]

Passing through Odeillo a few days ago, I simply re-photographed the parable 14 years later. (see my post with photo of 16/01/2009 in page 1 of the thread).

It's a museum piece now, but the museum is currently closed for maintenance.

Nearby, you can see MicroSol-R the concentrated solar micro-power plant with its 3 adjustable panels:

MicroSol-R-1

[Leo Maximus]

Explanatory panel:

MicroSol-R explanatory panel

The 2 panels facing south:

MicroSol-R south panels

The 1st photo of the panels is that of the panel facing east.

[Grelinette]

Hello,

I am surprised by such a project because the principle seems very simple.
That said, this technology does not seem to have been much emulated: the investment / return-on-investment ratio does not seem interesting.

I did not understand the principle of energy storage called "Thermocline (innovative and economical solution)" which compensates for intermittent solar energy.

In this subject, there are 2 similar projects to heat a liquid: a parabola and a cylinder.
A question : without taking into account the costs of materials, construction and systems to follow the sun, is it more interesting to use a parabola which will heat a point in its center, or a half-cylinder which will heat a tube?

[Christophe]

Thank you Leo for the photos and this great revival of the subject!

A question : without taking into account the costs of materials, construction and systems to follow the sun, is it more interesting to use a parabola which will heat a point in its center, or a half-cylinder which will heat a tube?

It seems fairly obvious that parabolo-linear concentrators quickly become more interesting (ie from a certain power) to implement than a parabola.

Their yield is lower than a parabola because the tracking does only on 1 axis (solar azimuth) while a parabola follows the sun on 2 axes.

The solar concentration towers are "pseudo" parabolas which require major civil engineering work and "hair" regulation (each mirror having its own angles)

[Christophe]

I am surprised by such a project because the principle seems very simple.

Uh, what surprises me most is the orientation of the mirrors to the ground ?? An explanation for Leo?

[Leo Maximus]

... I did not understand the principle of energy storage called "Thermocline (innovative and economical solution)" which compensates for intermittent solar energy ...

I found that : https://www.equipex-socrate.fr/equipeme ... sol-r.html

See the paragraph "Zoom on thermal storage" towards the end.

[Remundo]

is that the technicians are not "brilliant"

in my opinion it's just that they don't use the craft and put it down to protect the mirrors from dust and weather.

[Christophe]

is that the technicians are not "brilliant"

You mean they don't "think"?

[Leo Maximus]

I am surprised by such a project because the principle seems very simple.

Uh, what surprises me most is the orientation of the mirrors to the ground ?? An explanation for Leo?

It was stopped. The museum was closed. CNRS people must be on vacation too . Sad because there were lots of disappointed visitors.

[Christophe]

Uh, the operation is not supposed to be automated?