SIMULATION AND PERFORMANCE ANALYSIS OF A SMALL SCALE HELIOSTAT FIELD AT UNIVERSITI TEKNOLOGI PETRONAS

Currently, Malaysia utilizes Photovoltaic systems to harness the abundant sun energy
that contributes less than 1% ofMalaysia's energy demands, though the Concentrated
Solar Powers system have been proven to be more competitive and efficient. Solar
Power Tower technology, as one of the Concentrated Solar Power systems has the
highest concentration ratio allowing for high working temperatures and high
efficiencies for energy conversion and storage. In Malaysian weather, high diffuse
radiations are present due to the clouds and rainfalls. Due to its high storage capacity,
Solar Power Tower can behave as a weather damper and supply power to the system,
continuously. No scientific approach has been conducted to investigate the feasibility
of using Solar Power Tower system in Malaysia, so the main purpose of this study is
to simulate and evaluate the thermal output of small scale heliostat field that was
designed and constructed at Univrsiti Teknologi PETRONAS, Malaysia.