SolarPACES 2023: First Announcement and Call for Papers

SolarPACES 2023: First Announcement and Call for Papers SolarPACES (Solar Power and Chemical Energy Systems) is pleased to announce the SolarPACES 2023 conference to be held from October 10 – 13, 2023, in Sydney, Australia. SolarPACES is the premier international network advancing research, development, and commercial deployment of concentrating solar-thermal power (CSP) and related technologies. Australia, with its high […]

2022 Blue Book on China’s CSP industry launched

China Solar Thermal Alliance to present China’s CSP status update Date: March 21, Time: 21:00 (9 PM) Beijing time UTC 13:00:00 Opening remarks: Christoph Richter, Secretariat at SolarPACES Introductory Comments: Zhifeng Wang, Chairman of China Solar Thermal Alliance Presentation of Blue Book on China’s CSP Industry 2022: Fengli Du, Secretary of China Solar Thermal Alliance […]

Deadline for SolarPACES 2022 Technology Innovation Award is July 31

Apply for the SolarPACES Awards The call for the prestigious SolarPACES Technology Innovation Award and the Lifetime Award is now open until July 31, 2022. The awards honor the personal engagement of individuals and institutions that significantly contribute to the deployment of CSP technology. Find all information on criteria, application process and award details here. Currently […]

SolarPACES 2020 Proceedings Now Published with AIP

AIP, the American Institute of Physics, has published the SolarPACES 2020 conference proceedings, volume number 2445. (The 2020 SolarPACES Conference was held online during the pandemic.) All accepted papers are freely accessible on the AIP website and contain an ISBN number for the volume as well as individual DOI numbers for each paper. The proceedings […]

SolarPACES Call for Papers for 2022 Conference; Albuquerque, New Mexico

SolarPACES 2022: First Announcement and Call for Papers SolarPACES (Solar Power and Chemical Energy Systems) is pleased to announce the SolarPACES 2022 conference to be held from September 26 – 30, 2022, in Albuquerque, New Mexico. SolarPACES is the premier international network advancing research, development, and commercial deployment of concentrating solar-thermal power (CSP) and related technologies. After two […]

New SolarPACES Technology Briefs for Very Hot Solar Industrial Processes

The SolarPACES Task IV:Solar Heat Integration in Industrial Processes  advances international research into industrial processes requiring heat at up to about 500°C. But as solar research in processes requiring heat at up to 1,500°C is maturing, Task IV has now prepared Technology Briefs outlining the opportunities for very high temperature solar research for five industries […]

SolarPACES Ex-Co elects Gilles Flamant and Wes Stein as next Chair and Vice Chair

At the 101st Ex-Co meeting held October 4th, 2021, PROMES-CNRS Research Director Gilles Flamant was elected as new Chair of the SolarPACES Executive Committee for the next 4-year term. Flamant is an internationally recognized expert in solar thermochemistry who holds 10 patents, has authored or co-authored approximately 300 peer reviewed publications in international scientific journals, authored 10 […]

New Deadline June 22nd for Abstract Submissions for SolarPACES 2021

SolarPACES 2021: Abstract Submission extended until 22 June! As we have received several requests to extend the deadline for abstract submission, we are providing an extension until Tuesday, June 22nd, 2021! Your scientific or technical abstract (PDF, max 2 pages) should be submitted electronically and provide suitable information to allow the significance and quality of your […]

SolarPACES 2021 – First Announcement and Call for Papers

SolarPACES 2021 – First Announcement and Call for Papers September 27 – October 1, 2021 SolarPACES (Solar Power and Chemical Energy Systems) is pleased to announce the SolarPACES 2021 conference to be held from September 27 – October 1, 2021 as an online event. SolarPACES is the premier international network advancing research, development, and commercial deployment of concentrating solar-thermal power […]

Program for the 2020 SolarPACES Conference is Now Online

SolarPACES 2020 is coming up soon; starting Monday, 28th September. We are happy to update you on the latest news and program additions. Conference Program The full program of technical and plenary sessions is now available online. More than 400 contributions in the technical program among oral and poster presentations organized in 16 tracks allow a thorough […]

SolarPACES 2020 Online Registration is Open

The online registration is now available on the conference website. SolarPACES (Solar Power and Chemical Energy Systems) will be held as an online event from September 28 – October 02, 2020. We strive to make this an opportunity to connect the CSP community in a new way in these challenging times, and hope that even […]

SolarPACES Conference, Deadlines and the COVID Pandemic

SolarPACES 2020 Abstract Submission Extended: May 11 Due to the current situation, we are providing a short extension of the submission deadline until Monday, May 11, 2020. To present a paper, an extended abstract should be submitted electronically and should provide suitable information to allow the significance and quality of your work to be determined. Review criteria include […]

SolarPACES ExCo elects Robert Pitz-Paal as new Chair

Robert Pitz-Paal is elected new SolarPACES Chair Univ.-Prof. Dr-Ing. Robert Pitz-Paal was unanimously appointed as the new Chair of the SolarPACES Executive Committee for the next 2-year term at the 93rd ExCo meeting held October 1st 2017 in Calama (Chile). Pitz-Paal was previously vice chairman of the executive committee of SolarPACES. He has been one of two directors […]

SolarPACES 2017 Conference Presentations and Papers Now Available to Registered Participants

Thank you for participating in SolarPACES 2017 SolarPACES 2017 was held successfully in Santiago de Chile. We were happy to welcome participants from 38 countries! We would like to thank everyone for attending the conference. Thanks to all authors for their high quality contributions. Also many thanks to the scientific committee for their dedicated support […]

DOE Seeks Expert CSP R&D and Industry Insight – by Oct 6

CSP industry and researchers at SolarPACES 2017 Conference Subprogram: Soft Costs Funding Number: Request for Information: DE-FOA-0001818 The SunShot Initiative has issued a request for information (RFI) to gather insights about integrated data and analysis needs across the solar value chain. The goal is to better understand the information-related problems and questions that exist today for key solar […]

The ANU Solar Thermal Group has three full PhD stipends available

The ANU Solar Thermal Group presently has three full PhD stipends available, funded under the Australian Solar Thermal Research Initiative (ASTRI). Optical-structural design of heliostats Development of an advanced sodium receiver System modelling of novel CSP systems Details of the application process and eligibility here. Applications close on 30 September 2017. https://www.timeshighereducation.com/unijobs/en-au/listing/63190/phd-scholarship-in-concentrating-solar-thermal-research/  

System Advisor Model (SAM) webinars

NREL is organizing two new System Advisor Model (SAM) webinars in May. SAM webinars are one-hour lectures with question and answer sessions that cover various topics about SAM. All webinars are free and start at 2 pm Mountain. To register for a webinar, click its name in the following list: Overview of New Industrial Process Heat […]

Concentrating Solar Power Gen3 Demonstration Roadmap

A new technical report “Concentrating Solar Power Gen3 Demonstration Roadmap” was released in January 2017 by NREL in the context of the SunShot Initiative – a program launched in 2011 in the U.S. aiming at making solar thermal electricity cost-competitive with power from conventional power generation technologies by 2020. The report can be downloaded here. This roadmap […]

Guideline for Bankable STE Yield Assessment

Solar thermal energy (STE), often named Concentrating Solar  Power (CSP), is expected to play an important role in the world’s future electricity supply. Thermal energy storage, an essential part of a concentrating solar thermal power plant, allows for decoupling of solar energy harvest and subsequent electricity production. By this means, demand oriented power production can […]

2017 SFERA2 Training Course

SFERA II Training course for CSP professionals on: Optical and Thermal Component Testing of Parabolic Troughs and Influence on System Efficiency   Location: Plataforma Solar de Almería, 04200 Tabernas, Spain Date: 24.-28.04.2017 Target group: The course is designed for representatives from the CSP industry and companies (engineers, researchers) who want to be trained on real CSP hardware. Participants […]

NREL’s System Advisor Model Survey Update

NREL is asking for your help with the stewardship of the System Advisor Model, or SAM (https://sam.nrel.gov/). SAM’s CSP modules include parabolic trough, linear Fresnel, steam and molten-salt power towers, and dish/Stirling technologies. SAM updates are released roughly once per year and in addition to code enhancements, the SAM team endeavors to keep the default […]

STAGE-STE Workshops during the SolarPACES Conference in Abu Dhabi

Two interesting workshops will take place during SolarPACES 2016 Congress on October 13th. These workshops are part of the activities planned in the work packages WP3 and WP5 of the project STAGE-STE (www.stage-ste.eu). Basic information about these two workshops, which are specially aimed at the industrial sector, is given below: – WP3 workshop: Thursday 13th […]

Workshop: Thermal Storage for Solar Thermal Concentrating Plants

Place: IMDEA Energy Institute Parque Tecnológico de Móstoles Avda. Ramón de la Sagra 3 28935 Móstoles, Madrid Date: September 14th 2016  Description: One of the main advantages of solar thermal power plants (STE) against other renewable technologies is that they currently have commercial storage systems with large capacities. Nevertheless there is still a long way to walk, not […]

Post-Doctoral Position at CNRS-PROMES, France

The post-doctoral position is opened to PhD holder with a high level scientific background in thermodynamic cycles, heat transfers and fluid dynamics. The candidate must have a previous professional experience in solar thermal energy systems and skills in modelling and numerical simulation. Capabilities in using Matlab® environment or equivalent are required. Perfectly fluent English language […]

Openings at the Cyprus Institute

The Cyprus Institute is currently advertising vacancies for administrative and research positions within our Solar Energy research group: 1. Project Officer for Solar Energy and Desalination Group: http://jobboard.cyi.ac.cy/?q=node/452 2. Postdoctoral fellow for concentrated solar power: http://jobboard.cyi.ac.cy/?q=node/437 3. Computational scientist (Postdoc – HPC for energy): http://jobboard.cyi.ac.cy/?q=node/248 If you require further information please email n.jarraud@cyi.ac.cy and cc energy@cyi.ac.cy.

Researchers from DLR and CIEMAT developed new methodology for accelerated aging of aluminum solar mirrors

Scientists at the DLR Institute of Solar Research and the Spanish research center CIEMAT ended successfully a three-year trial period for the aging behavior of different protective coatings on aluminum mirrors and derived a methodology for accelerated aging. Aluminium-based solar mirrors can be a cost-effective alternative to traditional solar glass mirrors. In spite of the […]

Engineering for Sustainable Development Forum in Granada, Spain

The University of Granada, Infrastructure for Sustainable Development (i4sd) and Social Entrepreneurship School (SES) are pleased to organize the Engineering for Sustainable Development Forum in Granada on 29-30 September 2016.  This Forum is addressed to researchers, professionals from the private sector and public agencies and anyone interested in the areas of sustainable development, climate change, renewable energy, water, sustainable […]

1st European Seminar on Supercritical CO2 Power Systems

Location: TU Wien, AUSTRIA Date: 29-30 September 2016 Scientific Scope and Range of Topics: The aim of the seminar is to bring together researchers and industry participants working in the field of Supercritical CO2 (sCO2) Power Systems. The topics of the seminar include: – System Concepts – Thermodynamics, System Modeling and Control – Heat Transfer and Fluid dynamics […]

Linear Fresnel Solar Energy System Inaugurated in Cyprus

The Cyprus Institute’s Linear Fresnel Solar Energy System for Built Environment of the Novel Technologies Laboratory (NTL) building was inaugurated by the Honorable Minister of Finance, Harris Georgiades, on April 11. The Minister in his address stressed that research and innovation can and should have a very important role in a new economic model for Cyprus and that […]

Minisymposium in Modelling and Simulation in CSP Plants

CfP in Minisymposium in Modelling and Simulation in Solar Thermal Power Plants in EUROSIM2016 Conference.  One of the most important international conferences on Modelling and Simulation (M&S), the EUROSIM conference, will be held this year in Finland from 12 to 16 of September (EUROSIM2016). Theoretical and practical novelties in different areas of interest (methodologies, functionalities and application domains) […]

Positions available at ANU

ANU presently has four research-intensive positions available in the solar thermal group. Details are as follows: The positions focus on different aspects including development of low-cost heliostats and high-performance solar receivers (sodium receivers and boilers, bladed receivers), and system modelling of entire concentrating solar thermal plants.  The four roles are described as follows: Position 1: […]

Accelerated Aging of Aluminum Reflectors Guidelines

This testing guideline specifies the recommended accelerated aging conditions to reproduce realistic degradation mechanisms on aluminum reflectors, which have been observed during a 3 year outdoor exposure testing campaign at 9 exposure sites with 9 different aluminum reflector types (7 of them protected with a SiO2 based sol-gel coating, 2 of them protected by a […]

Position available at the Cyprus Institute

A new distinguished tenured Professorship open now at CyI in the field of CSP (see: http://jobboard.cyi.ac.cy/?q=node/78), funded by a prestigious and well endowed EU – ERA chair scheme. As stated in the announcement, this position aims to attract to CyI a leading scientist, of truly international standing, to lead the activities in the field of solar […]

Solar Thermal Electricity Global Outlook 2016

The Solar Thermal Electricity Global Outlook 2016 report is released by Greenpeace International, SolarPACES and ESTELA (European Solar Thermal Electricity Association) and shows that solar thermal electricity (STE) could supply as much as 12 percent of the world’s power needs by 2050. It also shows how STE could create millions of jobs. The report modelled several […]

SolarPACES is present at the World Future Energy Summit 2016 in Abu Dhabi

SolarPACES is promoting the 22nd SolarPACES Conference, to be held from 11-14 October 2016 in Abu Dhabi, at the World Future Energy Summit 2016. In the picture, from right to left: Dr. Nicolas Calvet and Abdulaziz Alobaidli, Executive Committee Alternate and Representative from UAE respectively, with researchers from Masdar Institute and MIT at the SolarPACES booth. The World […]

The Stellio Consortium awarded with the 2015 Technology Innovation Award

On the closing day of the SolarPACES 2015 Conference in Cape Town, South Africa, the Stellio Consortium, comprising schlaich bergermann partner sbp sonne, Ingemetal Solar and Masermic Mechatronics, received the SolarPACES 2015 Technology Innovation Award for the development of the Stellio Heliostat. Click here for further information on the SolarPACES awards

SolarPACES Report: Roadmap to Solar Fuels

The roadmap to solar fuels project aims at enhancing industry involvement in solar fuels production and promoting market penetration of the most mature solar fuels technologies. For this purpose, two sun-rich countries – Australia and South Africa – have initially been chosen to organize workshops together with external SolarPACES experts, with the aim of presenting to targeted local industry […]

Open positions

Postdoctoral Researchers position in SERC-Chile SERC-Chile is now accepting two postdoctoral researchers. Both postdoctoral positions offered are best suited for graduated PhDs interested in any of the already mentioned research lines and willing to live and work in Chile. Furthermore, the positions will entail collaborative work among SERC´s research lines and other centers, and the production […]

Webinar on: “Solar driven thermochemical production of sustainable fuels”

The webinar on: “Solar driven thermochemical production of sustainable fuels” will be a joint collaboration between ISES and STAGE-STE with the participation of partners from PSI, ETH/USP, DLR and IMDEA, and will take place on April 17th 2015 at 13:00 UTC. For more details and free registration please visit the following link: http://www.ises.org/index.php?id=270

Decolorization of Dye Polluted Water by Photochemical Processes

Participants: Centro de Investigación en Energía de la Univ. Nacional de México (CIE-UNAM) (MEX) Contact: Antonio E. Jiménez González (ajg@cie.unam.mx) Camilo A. Arancibia-Bulnes (caab@cie.unam.mx) Funding: CONACYT, PAPIIT-UNAM Duration: continuing Background: For more than a decade researchers at CIE-UNAM have been investigating the degradation of water pollutants by means of solar assisted heterogeneous photocatalysis and photo-Fenton […]