Reflector Candidates for a Vertical Bifacial Solar Canal

Five candidate materials were assessed for suitability of fabricating a horizontal reflector as part of a hypothetical vertical bifacial solar canal. Albedo values of candidate materials were measured under sunlight and used to model the impact on production and cost of energy of such a system. Despite the diamond-patterned aluminized mylar material by Vivosun leading by a wide margin in both total reflectivity and lowest material cost, its plastic deformation under stress makes it unsuitable for fabricating a tarp-like structure on its own. However, attaching it as a top layer to one of the other materials as a base layer remains viable, with such hybrid reflectors projected to be more cost effective than single-material reflectors. A hybrid reflector can be optimized by making the top layer width shorter than that of the base layer until it reaches a width to height ratio with the panels of 1.25 -1.9. This metric can further be used to assess suitability of potential sites for such vertical systems based on canal width. While cost of energy improved significantly with height of the system, more work is needed to assess the lifetimes of the materials and the structural requirements of taller systems. While polyvinyl-chloride-coated polyester has much lower cost, it is also substantially weaker, while the preferred choice for implementation between CoverMax, CoverTuff, and polyester-canvas materials may come down to logistical issues of production and contracts struck with individual vendors.