Analysis of solar energy collection attenuation efficiency for solar thermal power plants with different aerosol states

Regarding the calculation of solar radiation attenuation efficiency from the solar mirror to the collector during the heat collection process of solar thermal power plants, this article first analyzes the changes in aerosol types in the Dunhuang area from 2002 to 2017, and finds that the region presents a characteristic of mainly continental aerosols, with intermittent occurrence of sand and dust aerosols at the same time. Next, the differences in spectral radiation attenuation ability caused by different types of aerosols were analyzed, as well as their impact on attenuation characteristics at different distances. A calculation model for different types of aerosol solar radiation attenuation combined with horizontal visibility measurement data was established using MIE theory and the Planck spectral band averaging model. By comparing the model with existing visibility estimation formulas, it was found that when the visibility is around 5 km, the existing formulas significantly underestimate the attenuation effect of aerosols, especially after the horizontal transmission distance exceeds 1000 m, resulting in a deviation of over 50% in the calculation of dust-type aerosol conditions. Through this study, it is known that when the mirror field scale of existing power plants is large, more accurate calculation models need to be used to evaluate their atmospheric attenuation ability for regulation.