-- These projects are inactive --
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.