Home » SolarPACES Tasks » TASK IV: Solar Heat Integration in Industrial Processes

TASK IV: Solar Heat Integration in Industrial Processes

Operating Agent:

Tobias Hirsch, DLR, Germany (tobias.hirsch(at)dlr.de)

Nature of Work & Objectives

Task IV addresses all questions arising from the integration of concentrating solar thermal systems for industrial process heat applications. Whereas solutions for temperatures up to 400 to 500 °C are already in commercial phase solar heat integration for temperatures above is subject of research and demonstration. The objectives of task IV are for low and medium temperatures

  • Standardization of components & integration schemes
  • Systematic economic assessment & financing schemes
  • Show and demonstrate that storage technologies can reliably increase the solar share
  • Introduce concentrating solar technologies as viable and interesting option also for process temperatures below 100 °C (offers more options for significant thermal storage integration)

For High temperature process heat (above 400…500°C) the objectives are

  • to provide a platform for scientific exchange to foster ideas and discussion on concepts
  • Disseminate findings from demonstration projects to push the development of the technology
  • Identify more application cases and understand their boundary conditions

Organization and structure

The Task IV Operating Agent is responsible for organization and reporting of Task IV activities. There are usually two task IV meetings per year, one close to the annual SolarPACES conference. The meetings shall provide information among task participants and create ideas for new activities.  Work is being carried out in working groups dedicated to priorized topics. Currenly, we have working groups on:

  • Standardization
  • Modeling of solar process heat
  • Increasing the solar share of process heat applications
  • High temperature applications

Working group meetings are usually organized as online meetings.  If you are interested in collaborating in the task IV or one of the working groups please contact the task operating agent.

From 2020 to 2023 we ran the joined task 64/IV together with IEA SHC (https://task64.iea-shc.org ).

Published Task Reports

We have prepared a number of technology briefs that are intended to give a first insight into high temperature process heat applications. Documents on the following technologies are already available: