Performance degradation and durability of CSP components: ASsessment of durability and accelerated aging methodology of solar reflectors

Abstract

Accelerated aging testingis used in several insturies to estimate the lifetime of products and components. Manufacturers of solar materials and components usually test the durability of their products following Standards from the automotive, photovoltaic and building industries. The testing time and the "pass" or "fail" criteria are not well established for most products at the current state of the art. This makes it hard for customers to compare the expected durability of available products on the market. This chapter focuses on the durability Analysis and accelerated aging of solar reflectos. Research activity of other components such as evacuated Receiver tubes or volumetric air Receivers has been conducted over the last years and first preliminary Guidelines have been established.