Concentrating Solar Power SunShot Research and Development
In June 2012, DOE announced the awardees of the Concentrating Solar Power (CSP) SunShot Research and Development (Program Fact Sheet) funding opportunity as follows (Summary of the projects and funding):
- 3M: Next-Generation Solar Collectors for CSP
- Argonne National Laboratory: Chemically Reactive Working Fluids
- Boston University: Self-Cleaning CSP Collectors
- Brayton Energy: High-Efficiency Receivers for Supercritical Carbon Dioxide Cycles
- BrightSource Energy: Flexible Assembly Solar Technology
- Jet Propulsion Laboratory: Low-Cost, Lightweight Solar Concentrators
- Massachusetts Institute of Technology: Concentrated Solar Thermoelectric Power
- National Renewable Energy Laboratory: 10-Megawatt Supercritical-CO2 Turbine
- National Renewable Energy Laboratory: Particle Receiver Integrated with a Fluidized Bed
- Norwich Technologies: Advanced Low-Cost Receivers for Parabolic Troughs
- Oregon State University: High-Flux Microchannel Solar Receiver
- Pacific Northwest National Laboratory: Integrated Solar Thermochemical Reaction System
- Pennsylvania State University: Scattering Solar Thermal Concentrators
- San Diego State University: A Small-Particle Solar Receiver for High-Temperature Brayton Power Cycles
- Sandia National Laboratories: High-Temperature Falling-Particle Receiver
- Southwest Research Institute: CSP Tower Air Brayton Combustor
- Southwest Research Institute: Supercritical Carbon Dioxide Turbo-Expander and Heat Exchangers
- Stanford University/SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory: Next-Generation Thermionic Solar Energy Conversion
- Thermata: Heliostat System with Wireless Closed-Loop Control
- University of Arizona: Advanced Manufacture of Reflectors
- University of California San Diego: High-Performance Nanostructured Coating
Approach
The SunShot CSP R&D program seeks to accelerate progress toward the cost target of $0.06 per kilowatt-hour through novel and revolutionary research into CSP technologies. The awardees are working to produce dramatic improvements in CSP performance and cost by:
- Increasing system efficiency through higher-temperature operations
- Minimizing optical and thermal efficiency losses in the system
- Reducing the cost of the solar field.
Innovation
This applied research program supports technological developments that have the potential for dramatic improvements over existing commercial and near-commercial CSP systems. The revolutionary concepts being explored by the awardees target each subsystem, including collectors, receivers, power cycles, and associated hardware.