First Self-Aligned Heliostat Prototype at the Plataforma Solar de Almeria

It is a generally admitted fact that the optical aligning process of faceted heliostats in a Solar Power Tower Plant (SPTP), also called heliostat canting, introduces an assembly time penalization as well as a potential error in heliostat optics conformation [1, 2]. This double penalization influences both the solar field setup time and the optical quality of the SPTP. Aware of this fact, in 2014 the Plataforma Solar de Almeria (PSA) developed and patented a method to self-align facets and thus avoid the critical canting phase of a heliostat [3]. To experimentally demonstrate the feasibility of the self-aligning facet process, a small reflector composed of six facets and 9m2 of reflecting surface was designed and fabricated. The success of that experience has led to the development of a first 18.5m2 prototype of a self-aligned heliostat, which has been installed at the CESA-1 Heliostat Field (PSA) in 2022.