Heliostat manufacturing cost analysis. Volume 1

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Abstract
This study has two primary objectives. The first is to provide a detailed cost evaluation of the second generation of DOE heliostats, from which repowering heliostat designs are likely to be derived. A second objective is to provide an analytical foundation for the evaluation of futue heliostat designs. The approach taken for this study was to produce a cost estimate for the production of the McDonnell Douglas prototype design by generating estimates of the materials, labor, overhead, and facilities costs for two different production scenarios, 25,000 heliostats per year and 250,000 heliostats per year. The primary conclusion of this study is that the second generation of heliostat designs should cost approximately $100/m/sup 2/ at volumes of 25,000 units/year. This price falls to approximately $80/m/sup 2/ at volumes of 250,000 units/year. A second conclusion is that cost reduction begins at relatively low production volumes and that many production benefits can be obtained at production rates of 5,000 to 15,000 units/year. A third conclusion is that the SAMICS model and the SAMIS III program can be useful tools in heliostat manufacturing, costing, and economic studies.

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