Heliostat Consortium Publishes Annual Report Highlighting Impactful Technical Initiatives, Partnerships With Trade

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The U.S. Division of Power’s (DOE’s) Heliostat Consortium (HelioCon), co-led by the Nationwide Renewable Power Laboratory (NREL) and joined by companions at Sandia Nationwide Laboratories and the Australian Photo voltaic Thermal Analysis Institute (ASTRI), introduced publication of the HelioCon Annual Report: 2023, which offers detailed info on progress the HelioCon crew has made since its founding, together with creating impactful technical initiatives; increasing the variety of partnerships with trade, analysis, schooling, and different establishments; rising workers dimension; offering info to a rising viewers by means of its net presence; and taking part in nationwide and worldwide conferences with trade leaders.

“In a brief period of time, HelioCon members have contributed significant analysis, work, and consciousness aimed toward making heliostat applied sciences extra accessible and inexpensive,” mentioned Guangdong Zhu, HelioCon government director and NREL senior researcher and group supervisor of thermal vitality programs. “We’re proud to share that progress together with what’s subsequent for the consortium by means of our annual report.”

The consortium additionally introduced the opening of a brand new request for proposals (RFP) targeted on reducing the prices of heliostat applied sciences, bettering efficiency, and creating new heliostat trade alternatives.

“The initiatives that end result from this RFP will allow widespread deployment of concentrating solar-thermal energy (CSP) to decarbonize the electrical energy grid and vitality programs,” Zhu mentioned. “Increasing business deployment of low-cost, quality-built heliostats and heliostat applied sciences is significant to lowering emissions in greenhouse-gas-heavy industries, and the initiatives which can be funded by means of this RFP will probably be increasing the wanted workforce on this promising space and serving to hit the nation’s vitality decarbonization targets by 2050.”

HelioCon was established in 2021 to combine all sorts of stakeholder enter to handle the challenges in heliostat expertise development and market adoption. Funded by the DOE Photo voltaic Power Applied sciences Workplace (SETO), HelioCon’s management crew consists of researchers from NREL and Sandia. The U.S. nationwide laboratories are partnering with ASTRI and are intently working with builders, utilities, and different specialists. The consortium awarded $3.5 million to seven initiatives by means of the same RFP course of in 2023. Within the spherical 2 RFP, as much as $3 million in funding will probably be obtainable for initiatives that assist six topical areas of analysis recognized within the HelioCon Roadmap that was printed in 2022:

• Superior Manufacturing
• Metrology and Requirements
• Parts and Controls
• Subject Deployment
• Techno-Financial Evaluation
• Assets, Coaching, and Schooling.

Detailed details about the RFP, which is open Dec. 15, 2023, by means of Feb. 16, 2024, is obtainable on-line.

“Our first RFP enriched the capabilities of the HelioCon crew by bringing new initiatives into the consortium that coated a variety of subjects, together with schooling of the long run workforce within the trade,” mentioned Margaret Gordon, HelioCon management crew member and supervisor of the Nationwide Photo voltaic Thermal Take a look at Facility at Sandia. “We look ahead to the same affect by means of this subsequent RFP course of and are excited to offer consortium advantages that embody sharing data and sources from world-class trade leaders and analysis establishments with the brand new selectees.”

HelioCon is funded by SETO. Study extra concerning the workplace’s CSP and heliostat analysis.

Go to the NREL CSP and the Sandia CSP web sites to be taught extra about different analysis initiatives.

NREL is the U.S. Division of Power’s major nationwide laboratory for renewable vitality and vitality effectivity analysis and growth. NREL is operated for DOE by the Alliance for Sustainable Power LLC.

Information launch courtesy of NREL.