Computational design for a wide-angle cermet-based solar selective absorber for high temperature applications

The purpose of this study is to computationally design a wide-angle cermet-based solar selective absorber for high temperature applications by using a characteristic matrix method and a genetic algorithm. The present study investigates a solar selective absorber with tungsten-silica (W-SiO2) cermet. Multilayer structures of 1, 2, 3, and 4 layers and a wide range of metal volume fractions are optimized. The predicted radiative properties show good solar performance, i.e., thermal emittances, especially beyond 2 mu m, are quite low, in contrast, solar absorptance levels are successfully high with wide angular range, so that solar photons are effectively absorbed and infrared radiative heat loss can be decreased. (C) 2013 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.