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Heliostat Consortium - Components and Controls Seminar

{{#evt: service=youtube |id=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bYU-2S4uNQQ |alignment=right |dimensions=400 |description=Heliostat Consortium Seminar Series |urlargs=list=PLmIn8Hncs7bGAK-hIf4qxuAbHUHK-xgZK }} HelioCon—the Heliostat Consortium for Concentrating Solar-Thermal Power—is a National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL)-led consortium focused on improving component performance for the concentrating solar-thermal (CST) power industry.  It supports research, development, validation, commercialization, and deployment of low-cost and high-performance heliostats with optimized operations and maintenance for concentrating solar power (CSP) and CST applications.

Official Site - heliocon.org

DOE's role

The consortium is funded by the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) Solar Energy Technologies Office (SETO) through the Fiscal Year 22-24 Lab Call.

• Solar Energy Technologies Office
  • HelioCon
  • Solar Collectors
• National Renewable Energy Laboratory
  • Heliostat Consortium
  • Roadmap to Advance Heliostat Technologies for Concentrating Solar-Thermal Power
  • News Release: International Heliostat Consortium Releases Roadmap and Solicitation To Improve Commercial Viability of Heliostats

Objectives

To advance U.S. heliostat technologies, HelioCon engages subject-matter experts and general stakeholders for direct project-level collaboration, external consulting, and mission-specific panels or workshops. HelioCon also serves as a hub to integrate all DOE-funded projects that directly advance heliostat technologies. HelioCon objectives are to:

• Develop strategic core capabilities and infrastructure to support high-performance heliostat manufacturing, validation, and optimization and facilitate industry's ability to design, manufacture, install, and operate central receiver heliostat fields with higher technical and economic performance
• Ensure that these capabilities are readily available to industry, meeting its needs
• Fund research on new technologies with significant potential to improve heliostat field economic performance
• Form U.S. centers of excellence focused on heliostat technology to restore U.S. leadership in heliostat research, development, and validation
• Promote workforce development through encouraging student internships and postdoctoral positions, the formation of a HelioCon early career scientist group to promote networking, and highlight existing training and educational programs in heliostat design, production, and operation.

Research areas

HelioCon has a designated task lead for each research area. Within each area, the consortium focuses on developing results that will advance heliostat technologies.

• Advanced manufacturing
• Metrology and standards
• Components and controls development
• Field deployment
• Techno-economic analysis
• Resource, training, and education

Background

The consortium is funded by the Solar Energy Technologies Office through the FY 2022–2024 Lab Call. Working with industry, HelioCon is working to achieve DOE SunShot objectives for U.S.-manufactured heliostat cost, performance, and reliability.

A heliostat is a device that continually tilts a mirror or multiple mirror facets to track the sun's movement to reflect sunlight toward a predetermined target—such as a receiver sitting on top of a solar tower. Heliostats are a critical component of CSP and concentrating solar-thermal power tower technologies. A utility-scale heliostat field (100 MWe, for example) may include more than 10,000 heliostats. They represent 30%–50% of the cost of system construction and are a primary driver of operations and maintenance costs. Improvements to heliostat cost, performance, and reliability are necessary to achieve the DOE 2030 solar cost targets of 5 cents/kWh for CSP technology.

Funding

The Solar Energy Technologies Office funded the 5 year consortium effort beginning in Oct. 2021. With industry, HelioCon is working to achieve DOE SunShot objectives for U.S.-manufactured heliostat cost, performance, and reliability. A heliostat is a device that continually tilts a mirror or multiple mirror facets to track the sun's movement to reflect sunlight toward a predetermined target—such as a receiver sitting on top of a solar tower. Heliostats are a critical component of CSP and concentrating solar-thermal power tower technologies. A utility-scale heliostat field (100 MWe, for example) may include more than 10,000 heliostats. They represent 30%–50% of the cost of system construction and are a primary driver of operations and maintenance costs. Improvements to heliostat cost, performance, and reliability are necessary to achieve the DOE 2030 solar.

Stakeholders

• National Renewable Energy Laboratory
• Sandia National Laboratories
• Electric Power Research Institute
• Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation (CSIRO) - Australia

Board of Advisors

The board provides feedback, reviews the research portfolio and project performance on the development of core capabilities and infrastructure, and helps prioritize opportunities and capabilities.

• Tonopah Solar
• BrightSource Energy
• Heliogen
• Randy Gee, SunDog
• Tietronix
• University of California Merced
• NRG Energy
• German Aerospace Institute
• Solar Dynamics
• Electric Power Research Institute
• Sargent and Lundy
• Brown University

Contact

• heliostat.consortium@nrel.gov

Related links

• Concentrated solar power

External links

• https://heliocon.org/about_heliocon.html

Social media

• LinkedIn - https://www.linkedin.com/groups/9149038/
• YouTube - Heliostat Consortium Seminar Series

References

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