| Citation: | LI Huan-yu, WEI Xiu-dong, ZHANG Quan-sheng, ZHANG Ya-nan, YU Qiang. Layout optimization of heliostat fields for three-tower solar thermal power plants[J]. Chinese Optics. doi: 10.37188/CO.2026-0043
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To address the low optical efficiency in the peripheral regions of large-scale solar power tower heliostat fields, this study proposes an overlapping layout optimization method and a multi-target aiming strategy for triple-tower solar thermal power plants. First, Particle Swarm Optimization (PSO) is utilized to determine the optimal configuration for a single-tower layout. These individual fields are then arranged, and the optimal overlapping triple-tower layout is established by refining the inter-tower distances. Finally, a multi-target aiming strategy is implemented for heliostats within the overlapping zones based on their instantaneous optical efficiency. By modeling the solar concentration process and comparing layout configurations, the results demonstrate that the annual average optical efficiency of the overlapping triple-tower field is 0.24% higher than that of the distributed counterpart. Furthermore, the overlapping arrangement is more compact, resulting in a significantly reduced land footprint.
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