Project Name: Drop in, Ring of Power Heliostat for Collects
Funding Opportunity: CSP: COLLECTS
SunShot Subprogram: CSP
Location: Broomfield, CO
SunShot Award Amount: $2,062,246
Awardee Cost Share: $850,436
Solar Dynamics is building on heliostat technology developed under a previous award in the Baseload CSP funding program to develop the DROP C (Drop-in, Ring-Of-Power Heliostat for COLLECTS). The new design allows the heliostats to be dropped into a location with drastic reduction of the preparation of the site location, which enables a reduction in costs and improves financing terms. The addition of a wide base and protected drives, which permit heliostats to move and reflect sun at the best angle, allows lower manufacturing costs, reduced costs for the structure’s support, and increased protection from high winds. These improvements, coupled with wireless control of the heliostats, support lower cost targets well beyond the SunShot 2020 goals.
Approach
Solar Dynamics aims to develop a complete heliostat solution by advancing its concrete ring design and rapid alignment technologies, as well as building upon state of the art heliostat wireless communication strategies. The award seeks to demonstrate this heliostat design, communication system, and calibration capabilities.
Innovation
The complete design developed by this project allows for radical reduction in cost of heliostat reflectors, support structures, and control systems. By developing an integrated product that accommodates practical challenges, such as land preparation costs and high wind speed survival, this project will bring great value to the CSP community as a solution for the entire collector field of a CSP plant. Beyond the hardware costs, these innovations could reduce the time it takes to deploy a CSP plant by years and reduce operation and maintenance costs.