Heliosim: An integrated model for the optimisation and simulation of central receiver CSP facilities

An integrated computational model for the optimisation and simulation of the heliostat field and receiver components of central receiver concentrating solar power (CSP) facilities has been developed. The model has several unique features such as surface mesh description of all system components, consideration of real site topography, ray tracing based heliostat layout optimisation, and integrated optics, heat transfer and stress modelling. The model has been deployed in a multi-platform computer software package with a graphical user interface called Heliosim. In this paper, an overview of the user interface and physical modelling is presented, and case studies demonstrating the heliostat field layout and receiver geometry optimisation capabilities are described.