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

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 Almeria. 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.