Modeling of Wind Loads on Heliostats Installed in South Algeria for Various Pylon Heights

A desert is characterized by high temperatures and sand storms, but despite the inconveniences, it remains the ideal region for solar installations. In the operation of a thermal solar tower, the knowledge of wind loads is important for sizing the heliostats in order to have good performances. These loads can be calculated using mathematical equations based on several parameters: the air density, wind velocity, the aspect ratio of the mirror (height/width) and the tower height coefficient. Based on the measurement data of wind velocity and the density of air, a numerical simulation of wind profile was performed on heliostats with different pylon heights, with mirror areas of 1m2 and a mirror aspect ratio of 1. These measurement data were taken from the meteorological station installed in Ghardaia, Algeria. The main aim of this work is to find a mathematical correlation between the wind loads and the height pylon of the heliostat.