Second-surface silvered glass solar mirrors of very high reflectance

Guillaume P. Butel; Blake M. Coughenour; H. Angus Macleod; Cheryl E. Kennedy; Blain H. Olbert; J. Roger P. Angel

doi:10.1117/12.894373

19 September 2011 Second-surface silvered glass solar mirrors of very high reflectance

Guillaume P. Butel, Blake M. Coughenour, H. Angus Macleod, Cheryl E. Kennedy, Blain H. Olbert, J. Roger P. Angel

Proceedings Volume 8108, High and Low Concentrator Systems for Solar Electric Applications VI; 81080L (2011) https://doi.org/10.1117/12.894373
Event: SPIE Solar Energy + Technology, 2011, San Diego, California, United States

Abstract

This paper reports methods developed to maximize the overall reflectance second-surface silvered glass. The reflectance at shorter wavelengths is increased with the aid of a dielectric enhancing layer between the silver and the glass, while at longer wavelengths it is enhanced by use of glass with negligible iron content. The calculated enhancement of reflectance, compared to unenhanced silver on standard low-iron float glass, corresponds to a 4.4% increase in reflectance averaged across the full solar spectrum, appropriate for CSP, and 2.7% for CPV systems using triple junction cells. An experimental reflector incorporating these improvements, of drawn crown glass and a silvered second-surface with dielectric boost, was measured at NREL to have 95.4% solar weighted reflectance. For comparison, non-enhanced, wetsilvered reflectors of the same 4 mm thickness show reflectance ranging from 91.6 - 94.6%, depending on iron content. A potential drawback of using iron-free drawn glass is reduced concentration in high concentration systems because of the inherent surface errors. This effect is largely mitigated for glass shaped by slumping into a concave mold, rather than by bending.

Citation Download Citation

Guillaume P. Butel, Blake M. Coughenour, H. Angus Macleod, Cheryl E. Kennedy, Blain H. Olbert, and J. Roger P. Angel "Second-surface silvered glass solar mirrors of very high reflectance", Proc. SPIE 8108, High and Low Concentrator Systems for Solar Electric Applications VI, 81080L (19 September 2011); https://doi.org/10.1117/12.894373

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