Soiling and Degradation Analysis of Solar Mirrors

The degradation and the soiling of the mirrors are dependent of the solar field and the mirrors technologies, the local climate, the meteorological events, the O&M tasks and the human activities around the site. In the frame of the European project SFERA II, the SODAM project has been the opportunity to compare the soiling and the degradation mechanisms on a Fresnel solar field installed in the South of France and on a parabolic-through solar field installed in the South of Spain. The analysis of the soiling has shown equivalent maximum weekly reflectance loss due to soiling in both sites but a double mean weekly reflectance loss in Spain respect to France, as well as typical meteorological events to be taken into account to adapt the cleaning strategies. Among the meteorological parameters mainly influencing the soiling, the study has revealed the effect of the rain and of the DNI. In parallel, the analysis of the degradation mechanisms has highlighted a common chalking of the protective back paint layers due to the irradiation. This chalking being associated to a leaching of the paint layers in the site of Cadarache due to the high presence of liquid water. A difference in the speed of corrosion of the silver layer has been also noticed, leading to a difference in the mechanisms of delamination of the paints layers