Advanced Lightweight Mirrors
GlassPoint has developed an advanced composite mirror system that is less than one tenth the weight of mirrors used in previous trough systems. Because they use less material, the mirrors are cheaper to manufacture, as are the smaller aiming and mounting systems. These composite mirrors are so lightweight that they can be hung from the glasshouse structure itself without the need for additional mounting or foundations.
The use of lightweight mirrors is only possible in the glasshouse-protected environment. They would otherwise be blown away by the wind or damaged by sand and grit if placed outdoors. This is yet another way in which the glasshouse enclosure enables simplification and cost reduction.
Unmatched efficiency with front surface mirrors
Older, exposed mirror systems use back surface mirrors, in which a delicate reflective surface is protected from the environment by a thick layer of glass.
Back surface mirrors lead to a loss of energy in three distinct ways:
- Losses from refraction as the light enters the glass
- Transmission losses as the light travels through the glass
- Scattering losses caused by dirt on the surface of the glass
Each of these losses occurs twice as the light travels through the mirror. Once when the light enters the front of the mirror, and again when it bounces off the reflective layer at the back and travels back through the front.
GlassPoint deploys front surface mirrors to eliminate the energy losses resulting from back surface mirrors. Because GlassPoint mirrors are in a protected environment, the reflective surface can be directly exposed to the air without the protective glass layer.
Virtuous Cycle of Cost Reduction
