Micro Urban Solar Integrated Concentrators (MUSIC)

Summary

Need

Approximately one half of global energy consumption is associated with meeting the thermal (heating) requirements of buildings. In particular there is strong demand for the supply of thermal energy in the 100 to 400 degree Celsius range, which is currently met by gas and electricity.

If this demand was met by concentrated solar power it would eliminate billions of kilograms of carbon dioxide emissions each year.

Project innovation

The Micro Urban Solar Integrated Concentrators (MUSIC) project takes a completely new approach to collecting solar energy. It is developing innovative, thin and lightweight concentrating solar collector platforms (which ‘collect and concentrate’ the energy from sunlight) that deliver up to 400 degrees Celsius thermal energy and electricity from building roofs.

The solar collector platforms will be fully contained in a glazed envelope (such as glass), have minimal architectural impact, have similar weight and thickness to a photovoltaic (PV) panel, and be integrated into buildings or mounted on standard PV racks, thus minimising installation costs.

When coupled with new storage and energy/grid management techniques, this technology could potentially revolutionise the uptake and use of solar energy within cities.

More importantly, it would require only minor investment and short implementation times.

The project draws on a number of research disciplines, combining collaborative science with innovative engineering and demand management to develop a new class of solar energy product.

Benefit

The project will help create a critical mass of activity to position Australia as a world leader in distributed generation of solar energy, spawning new products and services for the clean energy market.