Economical Reflector for Solar boosting/heliostats

medicdude · 11-17-17, 04:17 PM

What are the cheapest/most durable outdoor reflector options for use in boosting thermal solar and photovoltaics? This could be used for a tracking heliostat or for passive reflection during winter conditions onto existing fixed panels, or other solar collector applications.

I have spent about 10 hours so far looking for stuff, and it seems like there is no reasonable product on the market for this, anything I've been able to find is just astronomically expensive and/or not suitable for outdoor use.

The biggest problem is simply outdoor longevity from UV breakdown, a lot of the common tapes or films I could find simply have no protection from UV and get destroyed after less than a year (often only a single month).

I was thinking some kind of acrylic or UV protected plastic might be the best protector just placed over conventional aluminum foil, with the cheapest backing you can come up with to seal against water and corrosion.

Than again, maybe just buying conventional mirrors off the market is the best bet.

I'm looking for something in the 2-10 dollar per square foot range, to be competitive with existing DIY designs, otherwise why have a mirror at all?

11-17-17, 04:17 PM	#1
medicdude Lurking Renovator Join Date: Nov 2017 Location: CT USA Posts: 18 Thanks: 0 Thanked 3 Times in 2 Posts	Economical Reflector for Solar boosting/heliostats What are the cheapest/most durable outdoor reflector options for use in boosting thermal solar and photovoltaics? This could be used for a tracking heliostat or for passive reflection during winter conditions onto existing fixed panels, or other solar collector applications. I have spent about 10 hours so far looking for stuff, and it seems like there is no reasonable product on the market for this, anything I've been able to find is just astronomically expensive and/or not suitable for outdoor use. The biggest problem is simply outdoor longevity from UV breakdown, a lot of the common tapes or films I could find simply have no protection from UV and get destroyed after less than a year (often only a single month). I was thinking some kind of acrylic or UV protected plastic might be the best protector just placed over conventional aluminum foil, with the cheapest backing you can come up with to seal against water and corrosion. Than again, maybe just buying conventional mirrors off the market is the best bet. I'm looking for something in the 2-10 dollar per square foot range, to be competitive with existing DIY designs, otherwise why have a mirror at all?