CSIRO provides renewable energy for China

CSIRO and Thermal Focus have reached an agreement for Australian solar heliostat technology to be marketed and installed in China.

The deal will assist China is reaching its renewable energy targets, while the revenue stream will help fund further climate mitigation research in Australia.

Australia is a leader in clean energy technology and this partnership will commercialise the product and return the gains to the taxpayer. 

Solar thermal technology uses a field of computer-controlled mirrors (heliostats) that accurately reflect and concentrate sunlight onto a receiver on top of a tower.

The concentrated sunlight can then be used to heat and store hot molten salt, which can generate superheated steam to drive a turbine for electricity generation.

An advantage of the system is the very low cost of storing thermal energy, giving the technology great potential for medium- to large-scale solar power — even when there is no sun.

A heliostat field can represent up to 40% of the total plant cost; therefore, low-cost and high-precision heliostats are a crucial component.

CSIRO’s software optimises the configuration of the heliostats prior to construction and manages each heliostat to ensure the optimum amount of reflected heat is focused on the receiver, maximising the amount of power that can be produced.

The partnership was signed by both CSIRO and Thermal Focus at the Asia-Pacific Solar Research Conference at the Australian National University in Canberra.

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