Wind and Structural Loads on Parabolic Trough Solar Collectors at Nevada Solar One
Wind loading is a main contributor to structural design costs of Concentrating Solar Power (CSP) collectors, such as heliostats and parabolic troughs. These structures must resist the mechanical forces generated by turbulent wind. At the same time, the reflector surfaces must exhibit the necessary rigidity to maintain their optimal optical performance in windy conditions.
Over two years, NREL conducted comprehensive field measurements of the atmospheric turbulent wind conditions and the resulting structural wind loads on parabolic troughs at the Nevada Solar One (NSO) plant. The measurement set-up included meteorological masts and structural load sensors on four trough rows. Additionally, we commissioned a lidar scanning the horizontal plane over the trough field.
This data set catalogs the high-resolution data set characterizing the complex flow field and resulting structural loads on parabolic trough collectors. By providing this first-of-its-kind data set to the CSP community, we aim to enhance the community's understanding of wind-loading experienced by CSP collector structures. This data set will also help design next-generation solar collectors and photovoltaic trackers.
Citation Formats
TY - DATA
AB - Wind loading is a main contributor to structural design costs of Concentrating Solar Power (CSP) collectors, such as heliostats and parabolic troughs. These structures must resist the mechanical forces generated by turbulent wind. At the same time, the reflector surfaces must exhibit the necessary rigidity to maintain their optimal optical performance in windy conditions.
Over two years, NREL conducted comprehensive field measurements of the atmospheric turbulent wind conditions and the resulting structural wind loads on parabolic troughs at the Nevada Solar One (NSO) plant. The measurement set-up included meteorological masts and structural load sensors on four trough rows. Additionally, we commissioned a lidar scanning the horizontal plane over the trough field.
This data set catalogs the high-resolution data set characterizing the complex flow field and resulting structural loads on parabolic trough collectors. By providing this first-of-its-kind data set to the CSP community, we aim to enhance the community's understanding of wind-loading experienced by CSP collector structures. This data set will also help design next-generation solar collectors and photovoltaic trackers.
AU - Egerer, Ulrike
A2 - Dana, Scott
A3 - Stanislawski, Brooke
A4 - Jager, David
A5 - Xia, Geng
A6 - Yellapantula, Shashank
DB - Open Energy Data Initiative (OEDI)
DP - Open EI | National Renewable Energy Laboratory
DO - 10.25984/2001061
KW - energy
KW - power
KW - Structural Loading
KW - Concentrated Solar
KW - Wind
KW - parabolic trough
KW - structural load
KW - CSP
KW - solar
KW - solar power
KW - wind load
KW - Nevada Solar One
KW - data
KW - optimal optical performance
KW - solar collector
KW - wind conditions
KW - flow field
KW - processed data
KW - wind impact
KW - structural design
LA - English
DA - 2021/10/01
PY - 2021
PB - National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL)
T1 - Wind and Structural Loads on Parabolic Trough Solar Collectors at Nevada Solar One
UR - https://doi.org/10.25984/2001061
ER -
Egerer, Ulrike, et al. Wind and Structural Loads on Parabolic Trough Solar Collectors at Nevada Solar One. National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL), 1 October, 2021, Open Energy Data Initiative (OEDI). https://doi.org/10.25984/2001061.
Egerer, U., Dana, S., Stanislawski, B., Jager, D., Xia, G., & Yellapantula, S. (2021). Wind and Structural Loads on Parabolic Trough Solar Collectors at Nevada Solar One. [Data set]. Open Energy Data Initiative (OEDI). National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL). https://doi.org/10.25984/2001061
Egerer, Ulrike, Scott Dana, Brooke Stanislawski, David Jager, Geng Xia, and Shashank Yellapantula. Wind and Structural Loads on Parabolic Trough Solar Collectors at Nevada Solar One. National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL), October, 1, 2021. Distributed by Open Energy Data Initiative (OEDI). https://doi.org/10.25984/2001061
@misc{OEDI_Dataset_5938,
title = {Wind and Structural Loads on Parabolic Trough Solar Collectors at Nevada Solar One},
author = {Egerer, Ulrike and Dana, Scott and Stanislawski, Brooke and Jager, David and Xia, Geng and Yellapantula, Shashank},
abstractNote = {Wind loading is a main contributor to structural design costs of Concentrating Solar Power (CSP) collectors, such as heliostats and parabolic troughs. These structures must resist the mechanical forces generated by turbulent wind. At the same time, the reflector surfaces must exhibit the necessary rigidity to maintain their optimal optical performance in windy conditions.
Over two years, NREL conducted comprehensive field measurements of the atmospheric turbulent wind conditions and the resulting structural wind loads on parabolic troughs at the Nevada Solar One (NSO) plant. The measurement set-up included meteorological masts and structural load sensors on four trough rows. Additionally, we commissioned a lidar scanning the horizontal plane over the trough field.
This data set catalogs the high-resolution data set characterizing the complex flow field and resulting structural loads on parabolic trough collectors. By providing this first-of-its-kind data set to the CSP community, we aim to enhance the community's understanding of wind-loading experienced by CSP collector structures. This data set will also help design next-generation solar collectors and photovoltaic trackers.},
url = {https://data.openei.org/submissions/5938},
year = {2021},
howpublished = {Open Energy Data Initiative (OEDI), National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL), https://doi.org/10.25984/2001061},
note = {Accessed: 2025-04-25},
doi = {10.25984/2001061}
}
https://dx.doi.org/10.25984/2001061
Details
Data from Oct 1, 2021
Last updated Jan 2, 2024
Submitted Sep 14, 2023
Organization
National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL)
Contact
Shashank Yellapantula
303.264.8595
Authors
Research Areas
Keywords
energy, power, Structural Loading, Concentrated Solar, Wind, parabolic trough, structural load, CSP, solar, solar power, wind load, Nevada Solar One, data, optimal optical performance, solar collector, wind conditions, flow field, processed data, wind impact, structural designDOE Project Details
Project Name Wind-loading on CSP collectors
Project Number 38483