A report documenting the establishment of state of the art research facilities for concentrated solar thermal research in Australia.
Report extract
This project involving the CSIRO and Australian National University (ANU) aimed to establish state of the art research facilities for concentrated solar thermal research in Australia. This was achieved through the establishment of Australia’s largest solar thermal research hub incorporating a new solar thermal tower and thermal storage laboratories at the CSIRO National Solar Energy Centre in Newcastle, New South Wales in addition to improvements to ANU’s “big dish” parabolic dish concentrator in Canberra, Australian Capital Territory.
The new solar thermal research hub comprises a 30 metre high solar tower surrounded by a 4000 square metre field of 451 locally-manufactured custom-design mirrors (heliostats), capable of generating temperatures of up to 1500 degrees Celcius.
