Modelling of optical durability of enhanced aluminum solar reflectors

In order to reduce electricity generation costs of concentrating solar power (CSP) technologies, new low-cost reflector materials are being developed. These materials need to withstand harsh outdoor conditions without a significant loss in specular reflectance. In this work, samples of enhanced anodized aluminum reflectors protected by a sol-gel coating that have been exposed at different weathering sites were analyzed with an innovative specular reflectometer in order to monitor corrosion and scattering caused by surface roughness. A model to estimate the specular reflectance as a function of exposure conditions at different weathering sites has been developed. (C) 2012 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.