Wind and Structural Loads on Heliostats
Wind loading is a main contributor to structural design costs of Concentrating Solar Power (CSP) collectors, such as heliostats. 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.
In 2024-2025, NLR conducted comprehensive field measurements of the atmospheric turbulent wind conditions and the resulting structural wind loads on heliostats at the Crescent Dunes power plant. The measurement set-up included meteorological masts and structural load sensors on three heliostats. Additionally, we commissioned a lidar scanning the solar field along the north-west quadrant.
This data set catalogs the high-resolution data set characterizing the complex flow field and resulting structural loads on heliostats. 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 heliostats. This data set will also help design next-generation 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. 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.
In 2024-2025, NLR conducted comprehensive field measurements of the atmospheric turbulent wind conditions and the resulting structural wind loads on heliostats at the Crescent Dunes power plant. The measurement set-up included meteorological masts and structural load sensors on three heliostats. Additionally, we commissioned a lidar scanning the solar field along the north-west quadrant.
This data set catalogs the high-resolution data set characterizing the complex flow field and resulting structural loads on heliostats. 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 heliostats. This data set will also help design next-generation photovoltaic trackers.
AU - Egerer, Ulrike
A2 - Yellapantula, Shashank
A3 - Abraham, Aliza
A4 - Emes, Matthew
A5 - Jager, David
A6 - Dana, Scott
DB - Open Energy Data Initiative (OEDI)
DP - Open EI | National Laboratory of the Rockies
DO -
KW - Atmosphere
KW - Fluid Dynamics
KW - Wind speeds
KW - CSP
KW - Turbulence
KW - Near-surface air temperature
KW - Structural Loading
KW - Energy
KW - Power
KW - Concentrated Solar
KW - Wind
KW - parabolic trough
KW - structural load
KW - solar
KW - solar power
KW - wind load
KW - Crescent Dunes
KW - Nevada
KW - data
KW - optimal optical perfrmance
KW - solar collector
KW - wind conditions
KW - flow field
KW - processed data
KW - wind impact
KW - structural design
LA - English
DA - 2025/12/24
PY - 2025
PB - National Laboratory of the Rockies (NLR)
T1 - Wind and Structural Loads on Heliostats
UR - https://data.openei.org/submissions/8601
ER -
Egerer, Ulrike, et al. Wind and Structural Loads on Heliostats. National Laboratory of the Rockies (NLR), 24 December, 2025, Open Energy Data Initiative (OEDI). https://data.openei.org/submissions/8601.
Egerer, U., Yellapantula, S., Abraham, A., Emes, M., Jager, D., & Dana, S. (2025). Wind and Structural Loads on Heliostats. [Data set]. Open Energy Data Initiative (OEDI). National Laboratory of the Rockies (NLR). https://data.openei.org/submissions/8601
Egerer, Ulrike, Shashank Yellapantula, Aliza Abraham, Matthew Emes, David Jager, and Scott Dana. Wind and Structural Loads on Heliostats. National Laboratory of the Rockies (NLR), December, 24, 2025. Distributed by Open Energy Data Initiative (OEDI). https://data.openei.org/submissions/8601
@misc{OEDI_Dataset_8601,
title = {Wind and Structural Loads on Heliostats},
author = {Egerer, Ulrike and Yellapantula, Shashank and Abraham, Aliza and Emes, Matthew and Jager, David and Dana, Scott},
abstractNote = {Wind loading is a main contributor to structural design costs of Concentrating Solar Power (CSP) collectors, such as heliostats. 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.
In 2024-2025, NLR conducted comprehensive field measurements of the atmospheric turbulent wind conditions and the resulting structural wind loads on heliostats at the Crescent Dunes power plant. The measurement set-up included meteorological masts and structural load sensors on three heliostats. Additionally, we commissioned a lidar scanning the solar field along the north-west quadrant.
This data set catalogs the high-resolution data set characterizing the complex flow field and resulting structural loads on heliostats. 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 heliostats. This data set will also help design next-generation photovoltaic trackers.},
url = {https://data.openei.org/submissions/8601},
year = {2025},
howpublished = {Open Energy Data Initiative (OEDI), National Laboratory of the Rockies (NLR), https://data.openei.org/submissions/8601},
note = {Accessed: 2026-02-23}
}
Details
Data from Dec 24, 2025
Last updated Jan 7, 2026
Submitted Dec 24, 2025
Organization
National Laboratory of the Rockies (NLR)
Contact
Shashank Yellapantula
Authors
Research Areas
Keywords
Atmosphere, Fluid Dynamics, Wind speeds, CSP, Turbulence, Near-surface air temperature, Structural Loading, Energy, Power, Concentrated Solar, Wind, parabolic trough, structural load, solar, solar power, wind load, Crescent Dunes, Nevada, data, optimal optical perfrmance, solar collector, wind conditions, flow field, processed data, wind impact, structural designDOE Project Details
Project Name Wind Loading on CSP Collectors
Project Number EE0052732
