Published at Solar Energy – Techno-economic assessment of a numbering-up approach for a 100 MWe third generation sodium-salt CSP system

Abstract: This work presents the design and techno-economic analysis of a 100 MWe concentrated solar power (CSP) system using a supercritical CO2 power block with 700 °C input temperature. Aiming to leverage the relatively higher efficiency of small heliostat fields and potential multi-build discounts, a Read More …

Published – Technical, economic and environmental analysis of solar thermochemical production of drop-in fuels

Abstract: This study analyzes the technical performance, costs and life-cycle greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions of the production of various fuels using air-captured water and CO2, and concentrated solar energy as the source of high-temperature process heat. The solar thermochemical fuel production pathway utilizes a ceria-based Read More …

Published at Chemistry of Materials – Synthesis and Structural Study of Substituted Ternary Nitrides for Ammonia Production

Abstract: Over the past few decades, inorganic nitride materials have grown in importance in part due to their potential as catalysts for the synthesis of NH3, a key ingredient in fertilizer and precursor to industrial chemicals. Of particular interest are the ternary (ABN) or higher-order Read More …

Australian mining to decarbonize with GlassPoint’s solar steam

Ten years ago, GlassPoint CEO Rod MacGregor bucked the typical business plan for solar developers, both PV and CSP (How CSP works): Sign an electricity contract with an electric utility to sell your solar power by the kilowatt-hour for 25 years and try to get Read More …

Published at Energies – A Novel Dual Receiver–Storage Design for Concentrating Solar Thermal Plants Using Beam-Down Optics

Abstract: Advanced power cycles—such as the supercritical carbon dioxide (sCO2) cycle—have the potential to reduce the levelized cost of energy (LCOE) of concentrated solar thermal power (CST) plants by significantly boosting their overall solar-to-electric efficiency. To successfully integrate these cycles into CST plants, the industry Read More …

Registration open for September: SFERA-III Doctoral Colloquium and Summer School

𝗥𝗲𝗴𝗶𝘀𝘁𝗲𝗿 𝗻𝗼𝘄 𝗳𝗼𝗿 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝟰𝘁𝗵 𝗦𝗙𝗘𝗥𝗔-𝗜𝗜𝗜 𝗗𝗼𝗰𝘁𝗼𝗿𝗮𝗹 𝗖𝗼𝗹𝗹𝗼𝗾𝘂𝗶𝘂𝗺 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗦𝘂𝗺𝗺𝗲𝗿 𝗦𝗰𝗵𝗼𝗼𝗹 📅 11 – 15 September 2023 🔎 Focus topic summer school: Smart CSP: how smart tools, devices and software can help improve the design and operation of concentrating solar power technologies. 🗣 💻 DLR Read More …

US DOE funds Synhelion to scale up its solar thermal hydrogen

Solar hydrogen is a component of the thermochemical solar fuels that Synhelion is developing commercially, such as aviation fuel The solar thermal green hydrogen technology beginning to be commercialized by Synhelion has now received a nod from the US DOE with funding announced today: Press Read More …

US DOE announces $135 million industrial decarbonization awards

40 Projects Across 21 States Will Advance Technologies to Decarbonize American Industry and Help Create Good-Paying Jobs WASHINGTON, D.C. — The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) today announced $135 million for 40 projects that will reduce carbon pollution from the industrial sector and move the nation Read More …

Published at Solar Compass – Pathways to the use of concentrated solar heat for high temperature industrial processes

Abstract: New analysis is presented identifying strong potential for Concentrating Solar Thermal technology (CST) to be a cost-effective contributor to future sources of net zero-emissions, high temperature industrial process heat relative to other emerging options. Nevertheless, significant further development of the technology is needed to Read More …

Published at Applied Catalysis – Structured sulphur trioxide splitting catalytic systems and allothermally-heated reactors for the implementation of Sulphur-based thermochemical cycles via a centrifugal solar particle receiver

Abstract: Catalytic sulphur trioxide splitting is the highest-temperature (850–900 °C), endothermic step of several sulphur-based thermochemical cycles targeted to production of hydrogen or solid sulphur. The demonstrated capability of centrifugal particle solar receivers of heating particle streams at such temperatures, can allow for “allothermal” implementation of Read More …

Published at Progress in Energy and Combustion Science – Opportunities and challenges in using particle circulation loops for concentrated solar power applications

Abstract: Concentrated Solar Power (CSP) is an electricity generation technology that concentrates solar irradiance through heliostats onto a small area, the receiver, where a heat transfer medium, currently a fluid (HTF), is used as heat carrier towards the heat storage and power block. It has Read More …

Sandia breaks ground on its Gen-3 particle-based CSP tech demo

The pilot at Sandia will demonstrate its next-generation high-temperature concentrated solar technology that can be used for energy storage, power production, industrial process heat, or solar fuel production. Press Release WASHINGTON, D.C. — The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) celebrated the groundbreaking of its Generation Read More …

Published at Sustainable Energy & Fuels – Kinetic investigation of solar chemical looping reforming of methane over Ni–CeO2 at low temperature

Abstract: Leveraging solar thermal energy to drive the chemical looping reforming of methane (CLRM) is a promising method of efficiently and selectively reforming methane to produce syngas using renewable energy. In this work, the role of catalytically active nickel in reaction kinetics, conversion, selectivity, and Read More …

1414 Degrees readies silicon for its high temperature thermal energy storage

  1414 Degrees has reached a major milestone in the development of its SiBox Demonstration Module. Construction is almost complete, meaning that the company is now confident enough to move forward with the installation of its thermal energy storage media (silicon) and is expecting to Read More …

Current Award Winners

Current Award Winners

Winners of the 2022 SolarPACES Awards: SolarPACES Chair Gilles Flamant presented the award to Dr. Christoph Falter, on behalf of Bauhaus Luftfahrt, Dr. Johannes Grobbel, on behalf of DLR, Dr. Alon Lidor, on behalf of ETH Zurich and Dr. Charles-Alexis Asselineau, on behalf of IMDEA Read More …

RFP to Demo Long Duration Energy Storage Innovations

[This “only pre-commercial” and “over 6 hours” storage RFP would favor thermal energy storage concepts currently near commercial readiness.] The New York State Energy Research & Development Authority (NYSERDA) is calling for project submissions to advance, develop or field-test energy storage technologies that can address Read More …

Could a Perovskite make Cheaper Solar Hydrogen?

A perovskite may be more cost-effective than ceria for solar-driven thermochemical hydrogen production, a new paper suggests. One perovskite formulation that works at a slightly lower temperature than ceria is explored by Xin Qian in the paper Outstanding Properties and Performance of CaTi0.5Mn0.5O3–d for Solar-Driven Read More …

March 1 Deadline for Sandia R&D Funding Awards for CSP Technologies

Sandia’s National Solar Thermal Test Facility launches R&D Voucher Program to further Concentrating Solar Power technologies January 29, 2021 9:21 pmPublished by Kelly Sullivan Sandia National Laboratories is currently seeking applications from industry, academia, research laboratories, government agencies, and individuals to further technologies related to Concentrating Read More …

EuroTrough Helped Cut Ramp-Up Time of China’s 100 MW Urat Trough CSP

Press Release: schlaich bergermann partner (sbp)  The German solar engineering consultancy schlaich bergermann partner (sbp) supplied the EuroTrough solar collector for the 100MW Urat CSP project in Inner Mongolia, the largest commercial parabolic trough project in China. The Urat project was developed and realized as part Read More …

MIT Proposes PV to Discharge Energy from 2,400°C Silicon Thermal Storage

The MIT team estimates their thermal “battery” designed for long duration – 100 hours or more – would be half the cost of today’s cheapest grid-scale energy storage; pumped hydro. A very intriguing idea for long-duration gigawatt-scale grid thermal energy storage proposes to store renewable Read More …

First-of-its-Kind Experiment with Liquid Metals in Thermocline Energy Storage at Karlsruhe

One of the ways to cut costs in thermal energy storage, whether standalone or as part of tower Concentrated Solar Power (CSP) is to use heat transfer fluids able to reach higher temperatures, and with a wider working range between hot and cold than today’s Read More …

Long-duration Thermal Energy Storage Startup Azelio Wins First Commercial Order

Swedish startup Azelio will see its long-duration Thermal Energy Storage (TES) technology used at the Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum Solar Complex (MBR) in Dubai, UAE. Recycled aluminium alloy is used as a phase change material to store heat which is then converted to electricity. Read More …

Making Solar Hydrogen with a Side of Carbon Nanotubes

Two teams of solar researchers have developed a novel solar reactor and thermochemical process for making solar hydrogen that can generate in addition carbon black and graphite as well as carbon nanotubes. Working over a six-year period, the teams first developed the specific solar reactor, Read More …

Clean Tech investment challenge in commercializing innovations like HELIOtube

HELIOVIS has been running a demo plant in Spain for two years demonstrating their novel low-cost blow-up plastic tube solar collector for CSP. The small startup is fighting hard to get the industry-scale financial backing needed to introduce the technology and to make commercial sales. Read More …

Sodium-based Vast Solar Combines the Best of Trough & Tower CSP to Win our Innovation Award

At the 2019 SolarPACES Conference, Vast Solar took the SolarPACES Technical Innovation Award for their use of high temperature sodium-based HTF in tower CSP, presented in their paper: Vast Solar: improving performance and reducing cost and risk using high temperature modular arrays and sodium heat Read More …

Study Investigates Solar District Cooling Potential for Saudi Arabia

Instead of running air conditioners on fossil-fueled electricity, University of Bergamo researchers Guiseppe Franchini and Antonio Perdichizzi propose an alternative cooling technology; using a thermal form of solar energy to provide solar district cooling in the Saudi Kingdom. Their study of the economics of solar Read More …

Current Job Openings in CSP Research and on CSP Projects

September 2023 Manager, Solar Thermal Testing and Demonstration We are seeking a highly motivated manager to lead the Solar Thermal Testing & Demonstration Department within the Renewable Energy Technologies Group (Org 8920). The Group conducts fundamental and applied R&D to improve performance, efficiency, and cost-effectiveness Read More …

US DOE Funds Terrafore’s Phase Change Energy Storage Test

The US Department of Energy (DOE) has released funding to the Argonne National Laboratory for a scaled-up round of independent testing of Terrafore Technologies’ innovative encapsulated thermal energy storage in phase change salts, designed to operate in temperatures to greater than 800°C in a single tank that acts as both storage and heat exchanger.

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IEA End of Term Report – 2021

IEA End of Term Report – 2021

Introduction and Overview: SolarPACES will continue its current activity to support the further cost decrease of concentrating solar technologies by the development of internationally recognized standards for components, systems and processes. Foster appreciation for the value of CSP dispatchability: The recently extremely fast deployment of Read More …

USA

Latest Online: 2015 Crescent Dunes: 110 MW SolarPACES-NREL database: All plant details on this CSP project 110 MW Crescent Dunes, tower CSP with 10 hours of storage, operational 2015-2019, and since 2021 Latest CSP in Development Sandia Gen-3 Particle-based CSP Research by the DOE has resulted Read More …

Morocco

Latest Online: 2018 Ouarzazate NOOR I,II and III: 550 MW SolarPACES-NREL database: All plant details on this CSP project: NOOR I, NOOR II, and NOOR III Earliest Online: ISCC 20 MW inaugurated in 2013: Ain Beni Mathur CSP Potential Country data Morocco has set a target Read More …

Australia

Latest in Development: 2023 Vast Solar 30 MW CST (solar fuels production) Latest Online: 2016 Sundrop Farms 36 MW CST: SolarPACES-NREL database: All plant details on this CSP project The Sundrop project uses tower CSP for onsite greenhouse agricultural production since 2016. CSP for electricity Read More …

Join SolarPACES – Membership Information

Join SolarPACES – Membership Information

For countries or institutions interested in a membership in SolarPACES, the attached documents from the  International Energy Agency  (IEA) can provide you with all the background information. Review the steps to join the  SolarPACES international research  collaboration (pdf): Participate in IA   About the IEA framework Read More …

Annual Awards

Annual Awards

The annual SolarPACES Awards honor the personal engagement of individuals and institutions that significantly contribute to the deployment of CSP technology. Two types of Awards can be given: 1. Technology Innovation Award Application Deadline: 31 July, 2023 For innovations relevant to a more rapid deployment Read More …