1. Brief history of the use of solar energy to transform matter 2. Main characteristics of solar furnaces 3. Elaboration of materials using concentrated solar energy 3.1 Surface treatments 3.2 Melting and purification of bulk materials 3.3 Production of chemical commodities and ceramics 3.4 Elaboration of carbon molecules, nanomaterials and thin films 4. Testing of materials using concentrated ...

Claudia Toro 1,*, Matteo V. Rocco 2 and Emanuela Colombo 2 1 CNR Institute of Environmental Geology and Geoengineering, c/o Department of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering, “Sapienza” University of Rome, Rome 00184, Italy 2 Politecnico di Milano, Milan 20156, Italy; [email protected] (M.V.R.); [email protected] (E.C.) * Correspondence: [email protected]; Tel.: +3...

This paper reports the thermal performance of a new cylindrical solar collector based on an experimental investigation with this difference that instead of the collector tube with absorbent coating, coil into a spiral copper tube is placed in the center of the collector. The spiral shape of the tube, heat transfer without disruption or increase the heat transfer area, is increasing. In this cas...

The direct conversion of concentrated high temperature solar heat into electrical energy was demonstrated with a series of four–leg thermoelectric oxide modules (TOM). These temperature stable modules were not yet optimized for high efficiency conversion, but served as proof-of-principle for high temperature conversion. They were constructed by connecting two p(La1.98Sr0.02CuO4) and two n-type ...

This article presents the results of a study into a packed bed filled with ceramic bricks. The designed storage installation is supposed to become part of a heating system installed in a single-family house and eventually to be integrated with a concentrated solar collector adapted to climate conditions in Poland. The system's working medium is air. The investigated temperature ranges and air v...

The heat extraction from the lower convective zone or storage zone of salinity gradient solar pond with corrugated bottom is investigated with the aim of increasing the overall efficiency of collecting solar radiation, storing heat and delivering this heat to different applications. The energy balance equations for each zone have been used to develop the expression of temperature distribution i...

This paper presents the solution of coupled radiative transfer equation with heat conduction equation in complex three-dimensional geometries. Due to very different time scales for both physics, the radiative problem is considered steady-state but solved at each time iteration of the transient conduction problem. The discrete ordinate method along with the decentered streamline-upwind Petrov-Ga...

This article presents technical data for concentrated solar power (CSP) plants in operation, under construction and in project all over the world in the form of tables. These tables provide information about plants (e.g., name of the CSP plant, country of construction, owner of the plant, aim of the plant) and their technical characteristics (e.g., CSP technology, solar power, area of the plant...

Thermochemical splitting of CO2 via a ceria-based redox cycle was performed in a solar-driven thermogravimetric analyzer. Overall reaction rates, including heat and mass transport, were determined under concentrated irradiation mimicking realistic operation of solar reactors. Reticulated porous ceramic (RPC) structures and fibers made of undoped and Zr4+-doped CeO2, were endothermally reduced u...