PARABOLIC DISH TEST SITE OF JPL, HISTORY AND OPERATING EXPERIENCE

The Parabolic Dish Test Site (PDTS), located at the JPL Edwards Test Station, Edwards Air Force Base, California, was operational from September 1978 through June 1984. The PDTS was installed and operated for the Department of Energy (DOE) to test point focus solar concentrator systems operating at temperatures up to 1427°C. Four parabolic dish concentrators, steam and air heating receivers, and three types of solar power conversion modules developed under JPL's supervision or independently by the industry were tested. The PDTS was equipped with a computerized data acquisition and processing system. A weather station, where the beam and circumsolar radiation and environmental data were continually monitored, recorded, processed, and distributed to experimenters, was established.