3M, Gossamer Space Frames produce new parabolic solar trough
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- Category: Solar
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02 May 2012
- Published on Wednesday, 02 May 2012 17:59
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American conglomerate 3M and Gossamer Space Frames unveiled a newly developed parabolic trough solar collector that they said will help cut equipment and installation costs.
The Large Aperture Trough 73 was developed using 3M's Solar Mirror Film 1100 and Gossamer's LAT systems. With a concentration factor of over 100 times and an aperture size of 7.3 meters, the new system reportedly reduces the installed cost of a parabolic trough solar field by over 25 percent.
A demonstration of the parabolic trough collector is currently installed at the 43-megawatt Sunray Energy facility in Daggett, California owned and operated by Cogentrix Energy, L.L.C.
Since its operation in October 2011, it has reportedly added approximately 275 kilowatts of electricity to the output of the facility.
The National Renewable Energy Laboratory has verified the performance of the system. A key factor to the system's efficiency is said to be the use of solar mirror films which are 50 percent lighter than glass and which offer a 94.5 percent reflectivity.
3M and Gossamer Space Frames will start working on a second project using the LAT 73 project in the Southern U.S. which is scheduled for commissioning in June.
