Design and building of a compact solar simulator with radiation concentration

• Grant number: 14/01517-0
• Support Opportunities: Regular Research Grants
• Start date: August 01, 2014
• End date: March 31, 2016
• Field of knowledge: Engineering - Mechanical Engineering - Thermal Engineering
• Principal Investigator: José Roberto Simões Moreira
• Grantee: José Roberto Simões Moreira
• Host Institution: Escola Politécnica (EP). Universidade de São Paulo (USP). São Paulo , SP, Brazil

Abstract

According to the Brazilian Atlas of Solar Energy, despite the different climatic features in Brazil, the annual mean value of global solar irradiation has satisfactory uniformity and high levels throughout the country. The values of this parameter in any region of Brazil (4200-6700 Wh/m2.day) are higher than those observed in most of European Union countries, such as Germany (900-1250 Wh/m2.day), France (900-1650 Wh/m2.day) and Spain (1200-1850 Wh/m2.day), where projects of solar energy applications, some of them sponsored by strong government incentives, are widespread. Several scientific and technological advances made in the study of solar energy applications are due to the use of compact solar simulators in long term experiments. Replacing the Sun by artificial sources, such as arc lamps with radiation emission similar to the Sun, simulators avoid the dependence on natural conditions such as the weather, the day time, the sunlight intermittence and the directional change of the solar radiation. The target of this project is to master the manufacturing process of a high-flux solar simulator comprising arc lamps. We intend to create the spectrum profile of the thermal radiation for a set of lamps, in association with a radiation filter, by taking measures with a spectrometer. The simulator is expected to closely reproduce the emission spectrum of a black body. Once technique is understood, a solar simulation model will be built in order to stimulate studies in this sector. (AU)