Open Heliostat Array Project

Field of heliostats in a "beam down" Cassegrain reflector arrangement. The array focuses the sunrays onto a hyperbolic reflector which brings them down to ground level where a solar thermal reactor is located.

Multiple heliostats can be set up as an array, with all heliostats focusing on one target. The main idea of the Open Heliostat Array Project is to provide inexpensive heliostat arrays for the agricultural setting. This would provide energy for a variety of uses on the farm itself and its surroundings. The land could still be used for pasture, with decent biomass yield.

A reasonably-sized array would collect thermal energy of 200-300 kW at peak, which might well be enough to make the farm completely energy independent. Note that the array can be focused on various different targets at different times. For some applications requiring high energy density (e.g. steam engine, thermochemistry, metallurgy etc.), the heliostats would focus on the hyperbolic mirror, while for other applications, a nearby greenhouse or large solar food dryer might be the target.

The array could also be split up into different groups, reflecting onto separate targets for some time, then realigning again. The farmer would decide ahead of time how best to utilize the expected sunlight on any given day, and program the array accordingly. Having this additional energy available allows more of the added value (food, fuels) to be captured on the farm.

Possible Configurations

Different optical configurations are possible, such as:

• "Beam-down" Cassegrain reflector (see right). This is one possible configuration. It makes the energy very convenient to work with at ground level.

* Solar tower

* add configuration

* add configuration

Examples of uses on the farm

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Individual Heliostats

Please refer to the Heliostat page, which has details on individual open source heliostat projects.

Additional Hardware and Work needed for the Array

• hyperbolic mirror
• open source software for the array
• solar multi-reactor

External Links

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