The Experimental and Numerical Study on the Total Efficiency of a Short-Length Linear Fresnel Reflector Considering the Effects of Field Slope and Side Mirror

This paper aims to investigate the effect of using a side mirror on the north side of the field and tilting the field to the south on the efficiency of a short-length Linear Fresnel Reflector based on tentative information. Taking into account the design parameters, a prototype with specific dimensions was designed and built. The performance of the device was evaluated under different conditions. The effect of flow rate on the efficiency of the device was examined and it was found that due to the existence of vacuum tubes, increasing the discharge has little effect on the overall efficiency of the device (less than 1%). It was recommended to use a side mirror in the northern part of the field aimed at reflecting again the lost sun rays and consequently increasing efficiency by 6% compared to a field without a side mirror. Based on the experiments, it was concluded that tilting the field to the south improves the performance of the short-length Linear Fresnel Reflector by about 2.5% and 5% for tilt angles of 3 and 6 degrees respectively. Moreover, the simultaneous use of a side mirror on the north side of the field and tilting the field to the south were investigated, which revealed that the use of a side mirror on lower slopes has a greater impact on efficiency.