Internship/Thesis "Development of a Heliostat Field Desi and Optimization Methodology" in Freiburg bei Fraunhofer Gesellschaft

The Fraunhofer Institute for Solar Energy Systems ISE in Freiburg is the largest solar research institute in Europe. Our approximately 1,400 employees work for a sustainable, economic, secure and socially just energy supply system based on renewable energies. We contribute to this with our main research areas of energy supply, energy distribution, energy storage and energy use. Through outstanding research results, successful industrial projects, company spin-offs and global collaborations, we are shaping the sustainable transformation of the energy system.

For our group "Concentrating Systems and Technologies" we are looking for a student for an internship and/or a thesis as soon as possible.

Compared to other renewable alternatives, Concentrated Solar Power (CSP) plants have the advantage of cost-effective integrated heat storage, enabling the system to generate electricity on demand (e.g. at night). Amongst different CSP technologies, Solar Towers are point-focusing systems, where many two-axis tracking mirrors (heliostats) re-direct the solar radiation towards a central receiver on the top of a tower. By absorbing the radiative flux, heat at very high temperature levels can be provided, either for power generation or for industrial processes with a significant heat demand. Beam-Down Towers are a variation of this technology, where secondary reflectors are used to redirect the flux from the heliostat field to the ground. This is particularly beneficial for specific receiver types.
A challenge in the design of such systems is the mitigation of different optical losses in the heliostat field: cosine losses, shading/blocking of heliostats, spillage and atmospheric attenuation. As placement strategy for the heliostat base points, different approaches have been suggested in the past. In the scope of this study, a novel concept based on shading/blocking and collision analysis will be implemented. To finetune the meta-parameters, a heuristic optimizer will be applied. The resulting methodology will be benchmarked against state-of-the-art solutions.
In your position you will support two ongoing research projects investigating optical aspects of Solar Tower and Beam-Down systems. You would ideally first complete a 2-3 month internship for familiarization with the basics and then work on the novel concept in a subsequent Bachelor/Master thesis. If you wish, you can also start with your thesis right away.

What you will do

• You will familiarize yourself with CSP, Solar Tower and Beam-Down technologies
• In addition, you will be working with an existing approach for heliostat field design based on blocking analysis
• You will extend the approach with an algorithm-driven optimization method based on collision analysis
• You will implement the fine-tuning of the meta-parameters with a heuristic optimizer
• You will familiarize yourself with our in-house optical assessment software Raytrace3D and will use it to evaluate and compare the optimized heliostat field solutions with regard to annual optical efficiency
• You will present your results in form of a scientific report and presentation

What you bring to the table

• You are a currently enrolled student in the field of mathematics, computer science, physics, engineering or comparable field of studies
• You look for an exciting topic for your internship and your thesis
• You want to apply your knowledge of numerical optimization in the field of renewable energy and thus make a positive contribution to climate protection
• You have a good foundation of programming knowledge for the practical implementation of the study (experience with Python is an advantage)
• You are fluent in English and enjoy working in a collaborative, international environment

What you can expect

• You work at one of the most popular employers on a par with the best
• Open-minded colleagues are happy to welcome new talents into their ranks
• We offer flexible working time models and give you the opportunity to work from home from time to time
• We foster a cooperative working atmosphere and open communication
• We value equal opportunities and provide room for diversity
• You can take part in attractive sports and health programs and after-work activities