Australia’s science agency CSIRO announced that its Concentrated Solar Power research facility in Newcastle, New South Wales had a breakthrough as part of research investigating the potential of “falling ceramic particles” to capture and store solar energy as heat. CSIRO’s solar thermal facility in Newcastle has 400 mirrors. (Image by CSIRO). In detail, the solar [...]
An international team of engineers accepted the Technology Innovation Award at the 2023 Solar Power and Chemical Systems (SolarPACES) conference on 13 October. We spoke to Dr Juan Felipe Torres about how the structure of their new solar energy coating mimics that of sea coral. A snorkeler and scuba diver from the age of 5, Dr [...]
Breakthrough solar thermal research is using ceramic particles that act like a battery, storing solar energy as heat. Concentrated solar thermal (CST) with ceramic particles offer a reliable, renewable power source that can be used even when the sun isn’t shining. This technology could play a key role in reducing industrial emissions, which currently account [...]
Australia could shave as much as $10 billion off the cost of the transition to a renewable grid by investing, now, in the development of very long duration energy storage technologies like concentrated solar thermal, a new report has claimed. The report, The Australian Concentrating Solar Thermal Value Proposition, argues that if decisions about the [...]
Vast Solar Pty Ltd (Vast), a world-leader in concentrated solar thermal power (CSP) energy systems, today announced that it has entered into a subscription agreement with Canberra Airport Group (Canberra Airport) to purchase up to USD $10 million of Vast ordinary shares at an approximate price of USD10.20 per share through an investment vehicle. The [...]
The solar receiver on view at this year’s SolarPACES Conference site tour in October will be the first that many attendees have seen. In a call from Australia, Associate Professor Joe Coventry, from the Australian National University (ANU), revealed the thinking behind the choice of liquid sodium to pair with the new high efficiency [...]
Tests are underway on a cutting edge renewable hydrogen technology that is being backed by iron-ore billionaire Andrew Forrest to deliver a cheaper and more scalable way to produce the zero emissions fuel using concentrated sunlight. Sparc Hydrogen – a joint venture majority owned by ASX-listed Sparc Technologies with shares also held by the University [...]
Mr. Sandoval brings extensive international CSP project delivery experience to Vast as VS1 moves towards construction. Vast Solar Pty Ltd (“Vast” or the “Company”), a world-leader in concentrated solar thermal power (CSP), today announced the appointment of Federico Sandoval as its new Project Director for VS1, Vast’s 30MW / 288MWh CSP project in Port Augusta, [...]
Methanol is used to make many chemicals, but what makes producing green methanol most interesting for the future is that the shipping industry, finally having to deal with climate emissions, considers green methanol the most viable alternative to today’s fossil-based marine gas oil. “In the last 12 months, major international shipping companies including Maersk, CMA [...]
Vast Solar, a leading developer of concentrated solar power (CSP), is creating more green manufacturing jobs in South Australia through a CSP project development with global design and manufacturing company Contratos y Diseños Industriales (CYD). Located in Port Augusta, the 30MW/288 MWh project dubbed VS1 is designed to generate clean, low-cost, dispatchable power with over [...]