Sandia National Laboratories began studying the power of the sun to produce utility-scale energy in the 1960s. Sandia’s National Solar Thermal Test Facility was commissioned in 1978, spurred by the oil crisis of 1973. Many of the documents detailing the design, construction and research conducted at the world’s first multimegawatt [...]
Researchers from Sandia National Laboratories recently used 22-foot-wide tethered balloons to collect samples of airborne dust particles to ensure the safety of an emerging solar-power technology. The study determined that the dust created by the new technology is far below hazardous levels, said Cliff Ho, the lead researcher on [...]
Sandia National Laboratories has been awarded a $25 million contract to build, test and operate a new solar power test facility on its campus in New Mexico. Using a concentrated beam of sunlight to heat up sand-like particles, lab officials say the system will be able to produce thermal energy [...]
Sandia National Laboratories is currently seeking applications from industry, academia, research laboratories, government agencies, and individuals to further technologies related to Concentrating Solar Power (CSP) at the National Solar Thermal Test Facility (NSTTF), a Core Capability and Technology Deployment Center of the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) Solar Energy Technologies [...]
The new flow control valves will improve heat distribution and minimise risks at critical joints, allowing higher CSP temperatures and greater energy conversion efficiency, research group Sandia National Laboratories told Reuters Events. New flow control valves being developed by US researchers could help CSP developers meet ambitious cost reduction targets. [...]
Today, the U.S. Department of Energy announced that the United States will host the world’s biggest conference on concentrating solar power (CSP) in Albuquerque, New Mexico. In October 2020, SolarPACES (Solar Power and Chemical Energy Systems), a program of the International Energy Agency, will bring together researchers from around the [...]
From testing space shuttle tiles to making electricity from sunlight, for forty years Sandia National Laboratories has contributed to energy research, space exploration, defense testing and solar energy commercialization at its world-leading National Solar Thermal Test Facility in Albuquerque, New Mexico. The facility’s primary goal is to provide experimental engineering [...]
From testing space shuttle tiles to making electricity from sunlight, the world’s first multimegawatt solar tower has contributed to energy research, space exploration, defense testing and solar energy commercialization since it was commissioned at Sandia National Laboratories in July 1978. In 1978, Sandia National Laboratories began concentrating solar power research [...]
Sandia National Laboratories is using its solar tower to help assess the impact of extreme temperature changes on materials. The tests, now in their second year, take advantage of the ability of Sandia's National Solar Thermal Test Facility to simulate a very rapid increase in temperature followed by an [...]
The Department of Energy will award 10.5 million dollars to Sandia National Laboratories for the research and design of a highly efficient and less expensive solar energy system. The aim of the study is to refine a particular type of utility-scale solar energy technology in which mirrors are used to [...]
Sandia National Laboratories will receive $10.5 million from the Department of Energy to research and design a cheaper and more efficient solar energy system. The work focuses on refining a specific type of utility-scale solar energy technology that uses mirrors to reflect and concentrate sunlight onto a receiver on [...]
Sandia National Laboratories engineers designed the receivers as part of a Laboratory Directed Research & Development (LDRD) program backed by the US government. The findings are being applied to Sandia’s work for SERIIUS, the joint Solar Energy Research Institute for India and the United States. While most concentrating solar [...]
Sandia National Laboratories engineers have developed new fractal-like, concentrating solar power receivers for small- to medium-scale use that are up to 20 percent more effective at absorbing sunlight than current technology. The receivers were designed and studied as part of a Laboratory Directed Research and Development project and are [...]
