Optical and thermal study of a solar radiation concentrator for laser production

Abstract

This work presents a simulation of a solar concentrating system in the Ghardaia region of Algeria, using parabolic dishes of varying diameters. The study employed the region's geographical coordinates: longitude 3.6833°, latitude 32.483°, and altitude 450 m above sea level. The system concentrates solar radiation onto a solid-state Nd:YAG laser and was analyzed under two conditions: without and with an infrared microfilter. The performance was evaluated in terms of solar irradiance, collected energy, and laser output. Solar irradiance reached a maximum of approximately 850 W/m² around noon, with focal irradiance up to 10,500 W/m² without filtering and 5,300 W/m² with the filter. The total power collected by the dish peaked at about 8,800 W, decreasing to 4,500 W with filtering, while the laser output reached a maximum of approximately 52 W. These results confirm the effectiveness of parabolic dish concentrators in focusing solar energy and demonstrate the feasibility of solar-pumped laser systems, particularly in high solar radiation regions. They also highlight the dependence of performance on optical and geometrical parameters, such as dish diameter and focal length.