FLABEG develops duraGLARE: An anti-soiling coating for solar mirrors makes solar thermal power plants even more efficient

September 10th, 2012 (Nuremberg, Germany)- Flabeg, the international market leader and manufacturer of solar mirrors, has developed an anti-soiling coating for solar mirrors. duraGLARE distinguishes itself with its property of repelling dust and sand from the surface of mirrors. Dirt on mirrors is thus reduced by up to 50 per cent against solar panels which are not coated. The duraGLARE coating continues to attract customers thanks to its simplified cleaning process. Washing cycles can be carried out without costly machinery, thus clearly saving on resources such as manpower and water.

"Power plant operators benefit in more ways than one with duraGLARE," explains Felix Schwarberg, Project Manager in the Flabeg Research and Development Division. "Based on calculations made by the German Aeronautics and Space Center (DLR), an increase in reflection of each percentage is equivalent to a surplus of 0.7 million euros," the Project Manager points out before adding: "At an additional profit of up to two per cent, power plant operators thus clearly gain with duraGLARE and the resulting increase in average reflection." 
Alternatively, further cost potentials in the solar field can be exploited. The enhanced performance of the collectors means that the effective solar area can be made smaller. The need for collectors and their components is reduced, making cost-cutting in the million range possible, irrespective of the size of a power plant.

Developers have been subjecting DuraGLARE to testing for months now. A number of laboratory tests, some of them carried out as free tests, on coated mirrors in various climate zones worldwide, have confirmed the ambitious standards set. In addition to free tests carried out in the USA (Arizona, California and Florida), duraGLARE was also tested during operation in an existing solar power plant. These test results also support the claim that solar mirrors get far less soiled with duraGLARE, thus achieving higher levels of reflection for many years. FLABEG is presenting duraGLARE for the first time at the SolarPACES CSP conference to be held in Morocco from September 11 to 14.

As a pioneer in the field of solar technology with a worldwide network, Flabeg produces flat and curved mirrors for all the CSP technologies – parabolic troughs, Stirling dish, Power Tower and Linear Fresnel systems, as well as CPV applications. Thanks to the latest  bending and coating technologies, Flabeg solar mirrors feature the highest degree of precision and reflectance of up to 95.5 per cent. The extremely robust mirrors were installed in the first commercially operated power stations in the early 1980s. These mirrors are still in daily operation today, without any decline in performance efficiency. Flabeg has been expanding its skills in the area of engineering services and project development support in parabolic trough technology since 2010. The company has since developed a new collector design which reduces costs for solar fields by up to 25 per cent against the costs for the collectors which are freely available on the market.