HelioCon: A Roadmap for Advanced Heliostat Technologies for Concentrating Solar Power: Article No. 111917

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Abstract

Heliostat-based concentrating solar-thermal power (CSP) systems can offer immense potential to provide low-cost, dispatchable renewable thermal and electrical energy to help achieve 100% decarbonized energy infrastructure in the United States. Heliostats are a major determinant of both capital cost and performance of state-of-the-art commercial molten salt towers and Generation 3 CSP systems. In 2021, the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) Solar Energy Technologies Office (SETO) launched the Heliostat Consortium (HelioCon), a five-year initiative to advance heliostat technologies. The HelioCon mission is threefold: (1) establish strategic core testing and modeling capabilities and infrastructure at national labs; (2) support heliostat technology development in relevant industries; and (3) serve as a central repository to integrate industry, academia, and other stakeholders for heliostat technology research, development, validation, and deployment. In this Perspective, HelioCon presents a roadmapping study on advancing heliostat technologies, intended as a central reference for the entire CSP community.
Original languageAmerican English
Number of pages14
JournalSolar Energy
Volume264
DOIs
StatePublished - 2023

NLR Publication Number

  • NREL/JA-5700-86357

Keywords

  • concentrating solar thermal power
  • CSP
  • heliostat
  • LCOE

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