Approach to determine wind loads on small heliostats

• Small heliostats have become more important in recent decades. • Methods for wind load determination were first developed for larger heliostats. • Wind speed, turbulence spectra, resonance, and fatigue have to be considered. • Appropriate methods and adjustments to lower heights if needed are presented. Due to changing boundary conditions like reduced controller cost and the need for higher flux densities, smaller heliostats have become more and more important in recent decades. The methods for determining heliostat wind loads were initially developed for the larger heliostats common at the time. For smaller heliostats, it is important to choose suitable methods for the individual steps of wind load determination and, if necessary, to adapt them to the lower height. These steps involve determining the maximum wind speeds, the turbulence spectra, the pressure distribution time series, the dynamic amplification, and the wind load spectra.