Coated articles with heat treatable coating for concentrated solar power applications, and/or methods of making the same

A heat treatable coated article comprising a mirror and/or reflector, the article comprising:

• a low-iron glass substrate having a thickness of about 1.6-3.0 mm;
• a multi-layer reflective coating disposed on a major surface of the low-iron glass substrate, the multi-layer reflective coating including at least one layer of or including silver sandwiched by and contacting first and second layers including Ni and/or Cr and/or Cu;
• and
• a ceramic frit material bonded to the multi-layer reflective coating over substantially the entire major surface of the glass substrate, and further fused to at least a peripheral portion of the glass substrate where the multi-layer reflective coating is not disposed, the ceramic frit material at least initially including a non-water carrier system,
• wherein the mirror and/or or reflector has a total solar reflectance of at least 93%.

A method of making a heat treatable coated article comprising a mirror and/or reflector, the method comprising:

• disposing a multi-layer reflective mirror coating on all or substantially all of a major surface of a glass substrate, the multi-layer reflective mirror coating including at least two metallic layers directly contacting each other;
• removing a portion of the multi-layer reflective mirror coating proximate to edges of the glass substrate;
• following said removing, disposing a frit material over the glass substrate including both the edges thereof and over the multi-layer reflective mirror coating that remains disposed on the glass substrate;
• and
• heating the glass substrate, as well as the multi-layer reflective mirror coating and the frit material disposed on the glass substrate, to an elevated temperature so as to cure the frit material and form an hermetic seal over the multi-layer reflective mirror using the frit ,
• wherein the heat treatable coated article has a total solar reflectance of at least 93%.