Prototype Development and

Testing of Inflatable
Concentrating Solar Power
Systems
Drs. Mithra & Usha Sankrithi
RIC Enterprises
drsankrithi@gmail.com
ricenterprises.org

Solar potential

2010 world power

consumption ~ 17,000 GW

Solar radiation at Earths

surface ~ 90,000,000 GW

Recoverable solar power

~ 1,000,000 GW

far exceeds humankinds

needs

Central Receiver Solar Thermal

Powerplants are An Attractive Solution
for Utility Scale Solar Power

Current Central Receiver Powerplants use Expensive Mirrors (Heliostats)

Central Receiver Solar Thermal

Powerplants are An Attractive Solution
for Utility Scale Solar Power

Heliostats are the largest cost element for Central Receiver Powerplants

How Could Cost of Heliostats be

Substantially Reduced?
Insights & Hypothesis:

Most current heliostats use heavy steel and glass mirrors for wind and
storm resistance and precise pointing control

A very light and inexpensive membrane mirror can reflect sunlight as well
as a heavy and expensive steel and glass mirror

Could such a light inexpensive membrane mirror be protected for wind

and storm resistance using sandwiching light inexpensive inflated
chambers?

Inflatable Heliostat Research Objectives

Conduct

trade studies and component /

subassembly tests to evolve a preferred subscale
prototype design for a lightweight, low-cost
inflatable-structure heliostat

Refine

Test

the design then construct a prototype

the prototype for:

ability

of the heliostat pointing system to accurately

aim the heliostat

ability

to form beam shape and concentration on a

Inflatable Heliostat V1.0

Refined Inflatable Heliostat Design Goals

Provide

a simple drive system using only two

motors, and having low torque requirements

Design

for inertia and aerodynamic loads to act

directly through the support system (no
overhanging moments)

Design

for low aerodynamic loads from winds

and gusts using a near-spherical shape

Use

differential pressure to focus / defocus the

Inflatable Heliostat V2.0

Patent 5,404,868
Additional Patents Pending

Inflatable Heliostat Features

Inflatable Heliostat Testing

Photovoltaics and Concentrating

Photovoltaics (CPV) are Attractive
Solutions for Smaller Scale Applications

http://solarpanelsguides.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/05/solar-panels.jpg

High efficiency silicon solar cells are the largest cost element for PV

Inflatable CPV Module Research Objectives

Evolve

a preferred design for an inflatable CPV

module that leverages the inflatable heliostat
design

Enable

much reduced per-watt cost for high

efficiency silicon solar cells through the use of
modest (5 15 sun) concentration

Design

and test a full-scale proof-of-concept

prototype for:

Surya Concentrating PV Module

Features

Patents Pending

Building the Surya Prototype

Building the Surya Prototype

Building the Surya Prototype

Surya Set Up

Surya Set Up

Surya Installed

Surya Installed

Surya Inflatable Concentrating PV

Module

Surya at Work

Effective linear focus of 8+ suns concentrated

sunlight reflected by the reflective membrane

Surya in the Morning

Dew covering the ETFE transparent

membrane

Surya at Work Video: Sun Sensor Tracking

Surya at Work Video: Inverted Stow

Surya Potential Applications

Private

Homeowners, ground mount

Private

Homeowners, roof mount

Private

Homeowners, grid-connected & netmetering

Private

Homeowners, off-grid

Commercial

buildings, roof mount, gridconnected & net-metering

Rural

and agricultural area integrated

applications

Variants

suitable for floating applications on

ponds, reservoirs, lakes etc.

Conclusions
Prototype efforts have validated that:
Lightweight,

low-cost reflective membranes can

be effectively utilized for concentrating solar
power

Sandwiching

inflatable chambers can

effectively protect a reflective membrane under
adverse conditions

Inflatable

heliostats with 2-axis tracking for

Recommendations
Additional

design and manufacturing

refinements will be needed for production lowcost inflatable solar energy harvesting devices,
building on lessons learned from the prototype
efforts

The

next step for inflatable heliostat R&D is

design, manufacture and test of full-scale
prototype or pre-production units

The

next step for Surya inflatable CPV

modules is manufacture and in-service

Acknowledgements

The authors acknowledge with gratitude the

dedicated and skilled work of Gary Reysa and
Lloyd Hagan in fabricating the prototypes of the
inflatable heliostat and inflatable CPV module,
respectively. Funding from the US Department of
Energy for the inflatable heliostat research is
also gratefully acknowledged.