NREL collaborates with industry to further the research and development (R&D) of concentrating solar power (CSP) plant and solar thermal technologies.
NREL's projects in concentrating solar power focus on components R&D and systems analysis related to power tower and parabolic trough technologies:
In addition, NREL has received funding through the following competitively awarded projects:
- 10-megawatt supercritical carbon dioxide (s-CO2) turbine test
- Near-blackbody, enclosed-particle receiver integrated with a fluidized-bed CSP system
- Nanomaterials for thermal energy storage in CSP plants.
Learn more about NREL's capabilities by reading the following fact sheets.
- Concentrating Solar Power
- Collector/Receiver Characterization
- Thermal Storage and Advanced Heat Transfer Fluids
- Advanced Reflector and Absorber Materials
- Modeling and Analysis of CSP Systems
NREL's Electricity, Resources, and Building Systems Integration Center leads the research and development in concentrating solar power.
NREL's concentrating solar power research supports the U.S. Department of Energy's SunShot Initiative, through its partnership in SunLab.
