Australian solar energy is becoming ever-cheaper and easier to produce, thanks in part to work being carried out by the CSIRO on the nation’s largest solar thermal farm.
CSIRO has begun installing 450 large mirrors, called heliostats, for Australia’s largest solar-thermal tower system at the National Solar Energy Centre in Newcastle, New South Wales.
Once installed, the heliostats will concentrate the sun’s rays to create temperatures of up to 1000°C. The advanced heliostat mirrors, though commonly used at other solar thermal energy stations around the world, are of a unique CSIRO design and are manufactured locally.
CSIRO’s Energy Transformed Flagship Director, Dr Alex Wonhas, says the economical design of the heliostats will also make solar fields more cost effective to build and operate.
“It’s a local idea generated by CSIRO and manufactured by a local company, which will have global impact,” Dr Wonhas said. “We hope that one day we will see these economical heliostats used in solar fields all over Australia and the world.”
By simplifying the design of the mirrors and using smaller, lightweight frames, local Central Coast manufacturing company Performance Engineering hopes to gain entry into the global solar thermal market.
Performance Engineering’s Managing Director, Jon Priddle, says high quality heliostats will one day be mass-produced in Australia.
“We have a unique capability at Performance,” Mr Priddle said. “We are using our expertise in automotive manufacturing – an industry geared for mass production – to create the most efficient manufacturing process.”
The heliostat field is part of CSIRO’s new solar Brayton Cycle project – a solar tower and field that generates electricity from just the air and sun.
