Model M1

Optical model

Mirrors are not a number. They are a stripe of heat on a pipe. Move the tracker and watch the hot stripe walk off the tube. Geometric concentration only sizes the hole. The coating sees the map.

Optical efficiency

74.8%

26.92 kW on receiver

Cg geometry
50×
C_flux mean
37×
C_flux peak
66×
Peak / mean
1.77
CPC intercept γ
85%
IAM transverse
98%
Block / shade
100%
Spill
4.68 kW

Receiver-plane flux

Rows are transverse across the aperture. Columns run along the rail. A 50× pod is not 50 suns. Mean concentration here is η_opt × Cg.

q'' in kW/m²

8.6
8.6
8.6
8.6
8.6
8.6
8.6
8.6
31.2
31.2
31.2
31.2
31.2
31.2
31.2
31.2
59.5
59.5
59.5
59.5
59.5
59.5
59.5
59.5
49.7
49.7
49.7
49.7
49.7
49.7
49.7
49.7
19.2
19.2
19.2
19.2
19.2
19.2
19.2
19.2

33.6 kW/m²

Mean flux

59.5 kW/m²

Peak flux

50×

Cg

Geometry only

66×

C_flux peak

What the coating sees

Intercept vs tracking error

Other inputs held at the current settings. Past ~6–8 mrad the CPC starts to miss and peak-to-average climbs. That is G3, not a bigger mirror.

OP-C03

Optical budget sheet

OP-C03 Model M1 optical budget