H2020 NEXTOWER Project - The context

Concentrated Solar Power Technologies

Concentrated solar power (CSP) is an important building block in installing a secure, competitive and sustainable energy system.

Today, the diverse solar thermal energy solutions commercially available di?er with respect to concentration technology, receiver type and shape, nature of the heat transfer ?uid (HTF) and capability to store thermal energy, to turn it later into process heat or electricity on demand.

However, more cost-e?ective solutions are required for a wider-scale deployment of the CSP technology.

Novel functional materials and material combinations throughout the manufacturing chain are therefore needed to enhance the efficiency of solar energy harvesting beyond that of the current state-of-the-art technologies.