Static optimal control: A closed-loop control strategy for heliostat aiming in solar power towers

Abstract

In this paper, a new closed-loop control for the heliostat aiming of solar tower power plants is proposed. It is called Static Optimal Control and is based upon the ant-colony optimization meta-heuristic. The controller can increase the plant's efficiency, restrict the flux density and compensate for disturbances such as clouds. It is tested on small reference plant with a test case considering a suddenly appearing cloud disturbance. Within the test case, the controller could compensate for a mirror error which caused a drop of the relative power of around 3%. During the cloudy phase, the controller increased the relative power by 1%. The overflux condition which occurred after the cloud suddenly disappeared could be eliminated within 12 control steps. However, this number can be reduced by adjusting the controller parameters.