Degradation of receiver tube optical performance after four years of operation

•Evaluation of receiver transmittance and absorptance after 4years of operation.•Receivers grouped according to their soiling exposure and operating temperatures.•No significant degradation appreciated on either absorptance or transmittance.•Location in the field or position in the loop does not influence optical degradation.•Receivers fulfil the manufacturer guaranteed efficiency after 4years of operation. The performance of parabolic trough receiver tubes has a direct impact on concentrated solar power plant production and thus must be maintained at as high a level as possible during the life cycle of the plant. In this paper, in-the-field degradation of commercial plant receiver transmittance and absorptance is studied after four years of operation. Since no records of similar measurements were available regarding the reception of the receivers, the results are compared with both the manufacturer’s technical specifications and with the guaranteed values. For this purpose, the Mini Incus portable spectrophotometer developed by Abengoa is used to measure the optical properties of an 80-receiver sample. This sample is built up considering the two main factors most likely involved in transmittance and absorptance degradation: interactions with external agents and operating temperature. Therefore, receivers from different locations both in the field and within loops are chosen. A statistical study is performed on the data collected in order to obtain representative values for the whole population of evaluated receivers as well as for every group differentiated. The results reveal no significant degradation of the absorptance or transmittance of the receivers, with measured average transmittance and absorptance values of 96.6±0.2% and 95.9±0.2%, respectively, higher than the 96% and 95% indicated in the technical specification for new first generation receivers. Receiver location in the field and position within the loop does not influence optical property degradation, since the appreciated differences fall within the uncertainty of the measurement device. The obtained results are then compared with the technical specification values and with those guaranteed by the manufacturer after 4years of operation, and the suitability of the guarantee in matching the reality experienced by the receivers in the field is discussed.