Solar concentrator

for aging tests

Atlas developed this solar concentrator technology in partnership with the National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) and the Russian Institute of Laser Optical Technology (ILOT) under a U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) program. The ultra-accelerated device tracks the sun while concentrating reflected sunlight on test specimens mounted in a target area. The patented mirror system has very high reflectance in the UV and near visible wave length ranges while attenuating reflectance in the longer wavelength visible and IR portions of the solar spectrum. This allows for very high concentrations of UV energy without excessive heating of test samples. Using multiple focusing mirrors arranged on the curve of a 10 meter sphere, the UV energy may be variably concentrated on a target area approximately 10 cm X 10 cm. Custom mounting and cooling can be added depending upon specific material exposure requirements. Optically the mirror system has a direct normal 100/1 concentration factor. Materials/Products that represent good candidates for testing are: • Materials that require a long service life • Transparent and glazing materials • Small solar PV cells or material used in these cells • Coatings applied to metal panels • Materials that perform well in EMMA®or EMMAQUA® exposure testing