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Projects

NREL's concentrating solar power (CSP) projects focus on components R&D and systems analysis related to power tower and parabolic trough technologies. We support the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) in its CSP deployment efforts in the following areas:

• Collectors
• Receivers
• Power block
• Thermal energy storage
• Analysis.

NREL received funding from DOE for concentrating solar power research projects. Through a competitive process, NREL was selected to lead the following projects:

• Novel Components to Overcome Existing Barriers—Particle Receiver Integrated with a Fluidized Bed
• Thermodynamic Cycle to Revolutionize CSP Systems—10-Megawatt Supercritical Carbon Dioxide (s-CO₂) Turbine Test
• Nanomaterials for thermal energy storage in CSP plants

In addition to these efforts, NREL is also a key partner on two other projects:

• Next-generation solar collectors for CSP
• Next-generation thermionic solar energy conversion

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