solstice.md.in (8238B)
1 # Solstice 2 3 Solstice computes the *total power* collected by a concentrated solar 4 plant, and evaluates various *efficiencies* for each primary reflector: 5 it computes losses due to cosine effect, to shadowing and masking, to 6 orientation and surface irregularities, to reflectivity and to 7 atmospheric transmission. 8 These data provide insightful information when looking for the optimal 9 design of a concentrated solar plant. 10 Solstice is powered by a *Monte-Carlo solver*, which means that each 11 result is provided with its *numerical accuracy*. 12 13 Solstice is specifically designed to handle *complex solar facilities*. 14 A solar plant can be composed of any number of geometries of different types 15 like hyperbolas, parabolas, parabolic trough, planar polygons, cylinders, 16 spheres, hemispheres and cuboids. 17 Behind analytic shapes, one can also use any *external mesh* stored in a 18 *ST*ereo *L*ithography file. 19 20 The orientation of the reflectors can be either defined manually or 21 *automatically computed* by Solstice according to the sun direction and 22 the animation constraints of the reflectors. 23 24 Mirror, matte and dielectric materials are supported. 25 *Spectral effects* are also taken into account as long as the relevant 26 physical properties are provided; 27 it is possible to define the spectral distribution of any physical 28 property, including the input solar spectrum and the absorption of the 29 atmosphere, at any spectral resolution. 30 31 [](images/solaris.jpg) 32 33 > A solar parabolic trough concentrator whose optical efficiency as well 34 > as the losses have been evaluated with solstice. The solar concentrator 35 > is developed by EMS focus 36 > ([Solars](https://www.emsfocus.fr/concentrateur-solaris.html)). 37 > The image has been rendered with [htrdr](../htrdr/htrdr.html) for 38 > illustration purposes. 39 40 ## Related articles 41 42 - [Moulana et al 2024](https://doi.org/10.1016/j.solener.2024.112675), 43 "Concentrated solar flux modeling in solar power towers with a 3D 44 objects-atmosphere hybrid system to consider atmospheric and 45 environmental gains", Solar Energy 46 ([open access](https://hal.science/hal-04751072v1)) 47 48 - [Wang et al. 2023](https://doi.org/10.1016/j.apenergy.2023.121513), 49 "Co-optimisation of the heliostat field and receiver for concentrated 50 solar power plants", Applied Energy 51 52 - [Zhu et al. 2023](https://doi.org/10.3390/en16072997), 53 "A Model Predictive Control Approach for Heliostat Field Power 54 Regulatory Aiming Strategy under Varying Cloud Shadowing Conditions", 55 Energies 56 ([open access](https://psecommunity.org/wp-content/plugins/wpor/includes/file/2304/LAPSE-2023.30743-1v1.pdf)) 57 58 - [Panagopoulos et al. 2022](https://doi.org/10.1016/j.egyr.2022.05.007), 59 "Optical and thermal performance simulation of a micro-mirror solar 60 collector", Energy Reports 61 62 - [Grange et al. 2021](https://doi.org/10.3390/su13073920), 63 "Aiming Strategy on a Prototype-Scale Solar Receiver: Coupling of Tabu 64 Search, Ray-Tracing and Thermal Models ", Sustainability 65 ([open access](https://hal.science/hal-03523266v1)) 66 67 - [Wang et al. 2020](https://doi.org/10.1016/j.solener.2020.08.008), 68 "Performance enhancement of cavity receivers with spillage skirts and 69 secondary reflectors in concentrated solar dish and tower systems", 70 Solar Energy 71 72 - [Wang et al. 2020](https://doi.org/10.1016/j.solener.2019.11.035), 73 "Verification of optical modelling of sunshape and surface slope error 74 for concentrating solar power systems", Solar Energy 75 ([open access](https://hal.science/hal-02358801/)) 76 77 - [Suntaxi et al. 2019](https://bibdigital.epn.edu.ec/handle/15000/20457), 78 "Sensibilidad de la energía perdida en el receptor debido al control 79 del campo de espejos de un colector lineal Fresnel", Bachelor thesis 80 81 - [Caliot et al. 2015](https://doi.org/10.1115/1.4029692), 82 "Validation of a Monte Carlo Integral Formulation Applied to Solar 83 Facility Simulations and Use of Sensitivities", Journal of Solar 84 Energy Engineering 85 ([open access](https://hal.science/hal-03368146)) 86 87 - [Piaud et al. 2012](https://www.academia.edu/18317802/Application_of_Monte_Carlo_sensitivities_estimation_in_Solfast_4D), 88 "Application of Monte-Carlo sensitivities estimation in Solfast-4D", 89 SolarPaces 90 91 - [Roccia et al. 2012](https://dx.doi.org/10.1088/1742-6596/369/1/012029), 92 "SOLFAST, a Ray-Tracing Monte-Carlo software for solar concentrating 93 facilities", Journal of Physics 94 95 ## A straight interface 96 97 The Solstice program is a *command-line tool* that processes input data, 98 performs computations, write results and that's all. 99 It makes no assumption on how 100 the input data are created excepted that it has to follow the expected 101 file formats. 102 The simulation results are also provided as is, in a raw ASCII file. 103 104 This thin interface is not only simple and powerful but is also 105 particularly well suited to be *extended* and *integrated into any 106 toolchain*. 107 According to the user needs, the solar plant description can be manually 108 written, generated by a script, exported from a content creation tool, 109 etc. 110 In the same way, the output data can be post-processed by any script to 111 be transformed, compressed, sent over a network, displayed in a data 112 analysis tool, etc. 113 114 [](images/themis.png) 115 116 > Post-processed Solstice outputs displayed in 117 > [Paraview](https://www.paraview.orf). 118 119 ## A framework for data analysis 120 121 Beside the simulation process, Solstice can output data to help in the 122 *analysis* of the simulation results: it can output the *radiative 123 paths* sampled during a simulation, as well as the solar plant 124 *geometry* described in the OBJ file format. 125 Thanks to these data, the user can quickly assert that too many 126 radiative paths are occluded or miss the target, or that the primary 127 reflectors are not correctly oriented. 128 One can also map the simulation results to the solar plant geometry in 129 order to efficiently visualise and analyse them using one's favorite 130 data analysis toolkit. 131 132 Solstice also provides *offline rendering* capabilities. 133 It implements an unbiased physically-based rendering kernel that relies 134 on the data and algorithmic tools used by the solver. 135 This ensures that the rendered images give visual clues on how the light 136 actually interacts with the geometry and the materials of the simulated 137 solar plant. 138 139 ## Quick start 140 141 Get the desired [archive](solstice-downloads.html) of Solstice and 142 verify its integrity against its PGP signature. 143 Then extract it. 144 145 On Windows, open a command prompt into the Solstice bin directory and invoke the 146 `solstice.exe` executable. 147 You can alternatively register its directory into the `path` environment 148 variable to expose the Solstice application to the system, allowing its 149 invocation from any directory. 150 151 C:\Path\To\Solstice-@VERSION@-Win64\bin>solstice -h 152 153 On GNU/Linux, source the provided `solstice.profile` file to 154 register the Solstice installation for the current shell priorly to the 155 invocation of the `solstice` program. 156 157 source ~/Solstice-@VERSION@-GNU-Linux64/etc/solstice.profile 158 solstice -h 159 160 The Solstice *reference documentation* is located in the `share/man` 161 sub-directory of Solstice. 162 To consult it, just browse the HTML files in the `share/man/man1` and 163 `share/man/man5` directories. 164 On GNU/Linux, you can alternatively use the `man` tool. 165 166 man solstice 167 man solstice-input 168 man solstice-output 169 man solstice-receiver 170 171 Refer to the 172 [Absolute Beginner's Guide](solstice-resources.html#ABG) 173 to learn fundamentals of Solstice; it relies on practical examples to 174 introduce the functionalities of the program. 175 176 ## History 177 178 Solstice was funded by the LABEX Solstice from 2016 to 2017. 179 Visit the [LABEX](https://www.labex-solstice.fr/solstice-software) 180 Solstice web page for complementary informations and examples. 181 182 ## License 183 184 Copyright © 2018, 2019, 2021 [|Méso|Star>](mailto:contact@meso-star.com) 185 Copyright © 2016, 2017, 2018 Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS) 186 187 Solstice is free software released under the GPLv3+ license: GNU GPL 188 version 3 or later. You can freely study, modify or extend it. 189 You are also welcome to redistribute it under certain conditions; 190 refer to the [license](https://www.gnu.org/licenses/gpl.html) for 191 details.