Comparative Assessment of the Durability of Glass and Polymer Mirrors for Concentrated Solar Thermal Technologies

Mounia Karim; Christopher Sansom; Peter King; Heather Almond; Zaharaddeen Hussaini

doi:10.52825/solarpaces.v2i.929

Authors

Mounia Karim University of Derby https://orcid.org/0000-0001-8892-0597
Christopher Sansom University of Derby https://orcid.org/0000-0003-1021-3133
Peter King Cranfield University https://orcid.org/0000-0002-6505-5868
Heather Almond Cranfield University
Zaharaddeen Hussaini University of Derby https://orcid.org/0000-0003-1172-5886

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.52825/solarpaces.v2i.929

Keywords:

Soiling, Durability, Erosion

Abstract

This paper describes experimental work that has been carried out to assess the durability of glass and polymer mirrors against erosion and soiling phenomena. Both outdoor and indoor tests have been performed and the results show that polymer mirrors are quickly degraded in comparison to glass. Soiling deposition has been simulated using a soiling test rig developed for laboratory use. Results show that polymer mirrors, due to their high roughness and their surface energy properties, can accumulate more soiling on their surface generating a higher drop in specular reflectance compared to glass mirrors. Contact cleaning processes have also been simulated on polymer mirrors and the results show that using a hard brush, even at low speed with rotational motion, causes significantly more degradation than a soft brush.

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