Solarlite - 5770

The Solarlite 5770 is the second generation of highly efficient parabolic trough collectors. The product was developed for operating up to 500°C. The collector, with an aperture of 5.77 m, consists of precisely shaped parabolic troughs made from glass fibre composite material, upon which a thin-film glass mirror is glued. This reflects more than 95% of the sun's radiation on to a receiver pipe positioned at the focal line. Water is pumped through the pipe, absorbing the reflected heat and vaporising. A turbine generator produces electricity. The surplus heat can be used for further heat applications.

Technical Details

SL 5770 technically and economically convincing

The SL 5770 is an advancement on its precursor, the SL 2300, which is suitable for use in operating temperatures of up to 250°C.

The result is an innovative, modular collector design based on the combination of a robust but light synthetic construction of a tested composite panel, an efficient thin-glass mirror and minimised steel construction. As a result, Solarlite achieves the following competitive advantages:

• Optimised collector design
  The parabolic design was optimally aligned to the properties of the vacuum receiver. The length of a collector was set at 12m, corresponding to the length of 3 receivers. Twelve collectors are connected to one module. The length of a segment was set at 12 m, corresponding to the length of 3 receivers. Twelve segments are connected to one collector. The length of a collector is thus set at 120 m.
• Higher operating temperatures
  An improved design and improved optical properties mean the new parabolic trough collector permits operating temperatures of up to 500 °C.
• Simpler construction
  An improved construction achieves greater stiffness and wind resistance.
• Reduction of the collector weight
  Reducing the proportion of steel means the weight of the collector is reduced.
• Reduction of collector costs
  
• Cost reductions in production and transport
  The individual modules can be shipped without problems in standard containers, which means on-site manufacturing is no longer absolutely necessary. The modular design makes unrestricted project sizes possible.
• Increase in optical efficiency
  The new parabolic trough collector achieves an optical efficiency of up to 75 %.