Heliestia

An innovative low cost, low weight, modular dish solar collector with an elastic reflector called HELIESTIA, named after the Greek God (“Helios”) and the Greek Goddess of Hearth and Home (“Hestia”), is constructed, and its future applications are addressed. The elastic reflector is an initially flat circular membrane clamped at its rim to form a paraboloid. The membrane is considered a Mooney-Rivlin solid, and the equation that correlates homogenous evacuation pressure with the deflection of the vertex is elicited for shallow bowls. The effect of geometric and material parameters, such as thickness or pre-stretch of the membrane at the requisite evacuation pressure, was investigated through various graphs. Additionally, the advantages of HELIESTIA’s modular structure are described.