Calibration of high-heat-flux sensors in a solar furnace

Abstract

The most common sensors used for the measurement of high solar

irradiance are the Gardon gauges, which are usually calibrated using a black

body at a certain temperature as the radiant source. This calibration

procedure is assumed to produce a systematic error when solar irradiance

measurements are taken using these sensors. This paper demonstrates a

calorimetric method for calibrating these high-heat-flux gauges in a solar

furnace. This procedure has enabled these sensors to be calibrated under

concentrated solar radiation at higher irradiances under non-laboratory

conditions in the CIEMAT solar furnace at the Plataforma Solar de Almer´ıa.

Working at higher irradiances has allowed the uncertainty in the calibration

constant of these sensors to be reduced. This work experimentally confirms

the predicted systematic errors committed when measuring high

solar irradiances using Gardon sensors calibrated with a black body.