Solar Thermal Power Plants

Fresnel systems consist of a large number of mirrors—also called heliostats—that reflect the sun's heat onto an absorber. A heat transfer medium inside the absorber is heated by solar radiation, driving a steam or gas turbine to generate electricity. To avoid stray losses due to inaccurate alignment, inclination sensors detect the horizontal orientation of the heliostats. With its robust housing and extended temperature range, the F99 inclination sensor from Pepperl+Fuchs is ideal for this application. The sensor not only withstands extreme temperatures, but also impresses with a highly precise measurement so that the mirrors can be optimally aligned with the sun.

In solar power towers, a large number of movable mirrors reflect sunlight onto a specific field in a solar tower. Both horizontal and vertical tracking is necessary so that the mirrors can follow the position of the sun. For horizontal tracking, the MNI40 magnetic incremental rotary encoder is used: it has no mechanical wear parts and is suitable for extreme environmental conditions. The same applies to the F99 inclination sensor, which is responsible for the vertical alignment of the heliostats. Not only the immunity to environmental influences, but also the high precision of the sensor technology from Pepperl+Fuchs is essential in this application: the mirrors must be calibrated with maximum precision so that the temperatures in the solar tower do not become too high.