Unified design guidelines for high flux solar simulator with controllable flux vector

High flux solar simulator (HFSS) is a useful tool in the field of concentrated solar applications creating stable and controllable irradiation environments close to real solar concentrators. A broader utilization of HFSS requires flexibility in controllable flux magnitude and incidence angle distribution. In this study, we provide a comprehensive investigation for the design of HFSS with controllable magnitude and distributions (spatial and angular) based on Monte Carlo Ray Tracing method. A combined uniformity index is proposed considering global flux uniformity, radial uniformity, and circumferential uniformity. The incidence angle distribution at the target is used to show angular distribution information. The effects of eccentricity of reflector, off-focus of lamp, reflector truncation, reflector position, off-focus of target, as well as adding CPC on the final flux vector are presented. Smaller eccentricity leads to higher peak flux. There is an optimal lamp position relative to the reflector's focal point. Moving the lamp out of focal point in radial direction for -3 mm leads to a peak concentration increase by 42.21%. Non-central lamp units help increase the uniformity while leading to reduced peak flux. Adding a CPC in front of target can further tune the angular and flux distribution to be either more uniform or concentrated via different CPC designs and CPC-target relative positions. This comprehensive study offers design and operational guidance for HFSS with flexible flux vectors fitting for various concentrated solar applications.