Concentration ratio for a solar trough concentrator with circular mirror and flat receiver.

• Concentration ratio formula for a circular concentrator with flat receiver is presented. • Development reveals existence of two concentration ratio regimes. • One regime relies on the caustics while the other relies on the rays from the rim. • The circle can match the concentration of the parabola for large acceptance angles. We present a simple analytical formula for the geometric concentration ratio of a circular trough optical concentrator coupled to a flat (planar) receiver. The receiver is sized to achieve full collection (no spillage) for any combination of acceptance and rim angle. The development reveals the existence of two concentration ratio regimes, one controlled by the edge ray caustics, and the other controlled by the intersection of the edge rays from the rim alone. Notably, we show that in the latter rim ray regime, the circular trough achieves the exact same geometric concentration ratio as a parabolic trough. The provided formula fills a gap towards the development of a complete catalogue of concentration ratio formulas for different concentrator/receiver geometries. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]