Category: News

SOLWARIS project has been presented at Solar Paces 2020 conference that was held online from September 28 to October 2, 2020, in Daegu.

The 26^th edition of SolarPACES 2020 was successfully held online for the first time. 530 participants from 36 countries joined this new experience and benefited from over 200 presentations and 140 posters.

The SolarPACES community proofed that a pandemic does not stop inspiring research and progress, interactions, and lively discussions between experts worldwide.

SOLWARIS results were presented through:

• poster presentation by Erlantz Fernández de Gorostiza (TEK) on the topic: Scattering Sensor Embedded in Mirrors for Continuous Soiling Monitoring of CSP Plants.
• poster presentation by Cristobal Villasante (TEK) on the topic: SMARTMIRROR®: Making CSP Plants Smarter and More Profitable. 
• poster presentation by Dr. Patricia Santamaria (RIO SCH) on the topic: Evaluation of Optical Properties and Mechanical Resistance of
  Antisoiling Layer on Antireflective Coated Glass Tubes for Solar. 

More information can be found here.

Outcomes of the SOLWARIS project will be presented during the workshop dedicated to the topic “Materials & Processes for Thermal Solar System”. Half-day online workshop will be organized within the framework of  H2020 funded project IN POWER on October 27, 2020.

SOLWARIS project will be presented by Luis Millán Monte from TSK.

More information on the event can be found here.

On the occassion of the M24 meeting, the SOLWARIS team met in the end of May 2020. Due to the travel restrictions, the meeting was held remotely via teleconference service. 

During one day meeting, SOLWARIS work progress in individual WPs was discussed. In addition, discussion and planning of the last phase dedicated to the testing of individual SOLWARIS technologies was held.

First phase of the SOLWARIS project was concluded in the end of January by successful organization of official review meeting with the Project Officer.

Initial phase was devoted to the development and upscaling of individual SOLWARIS technologies. All prototypes are currently being manufactured and prepared for the installation in the testing sites – La Africana and Plataforma Solar de Almería – where extensive testing and validation will be performed during the last year of the project.

SOLWARIS project has been presented at Solar Paces 2019 conference that took place on October 1-4, 2019, in Daegu, South Korea.

The debate of the conference was mainly around technologies and ecomonical progress as well as the future of the CSP technologies. According to José Luis Martínez Dalmau, president of ESTELA, the strong decline of RES (renewable Energy Company) prices made the policy makers see the costs of the electrical system as the main driver for decarbonization, leaving a bit aside the political commitment to it. In terms of LCoE, RES including CSP, are already competitive against fossil power generation.

At the moment RES gained weight in the energy mix, the lowest LCoE (as sole decisive criterion for technology choices) lost momentum, as it excludes externalities whose costs can be higher than the LCoE itself. Moreover, the need for storage, for network reinforcements, increased curtailments result today in having no longer LCoE, but flexibility in the focus.

By the end of 2018, the current storage capacity of CSP plants exceeded more than 10 times the capacity of all batteries connected to the network worldwide. This mature technology, of great capacity in terms of volume of energy and power of delivery, has demonstrated its reliability. This is a clear opportunity for solar thermal technology with storage. In countries with good DNI, CSP plants with storage will provide the best complement to PV for meeting the demand after sunset and contribute to increasing firmness of the back-up capacity thanks to its manageability.

Because of the collision with the trademark of the company Solvay, the initial acronym of the project (SOLWATT) had to be changed. The new acronym of the project is SOLWARIS, which should be used from 30th September 2019 on for all purposes within the project.

On the occassion of the M12 meeting, the SOLWATT team met in mid June in Cranfield, United Kingdom.

During this two day meeting, SOLWATT work progress in individual WPs was discussed. On the second day, discussions in specific workshops dedicated to cleaning activities, cooling topics as well as installation plan at the testing site.

A second Generally Assembly meeting was also held to make some important decisions for a smooth progress of the project.

During the meeting, it was also approved that first official review (M18) meeting will be organized in Brussels, Belgium in the end of January 2020.

Outcomes of the SOLWATT project will be presented during the workshop dedicated to the topic “The Effect on Soiling on Solar Energy”. Half-day workshop will be held as a side event of INTERSOLAR Europe 2019 at ICM International Congress Center (second floor, room 22A) in Munich, Germany, on May 16, 2019 from 1 p.m. to 5 p.m.

SOLWATT project will be presented  by colleagues from German Aerospace Center (DLR) and Barcelona Supercomputing Center (BSC).

Flyer of the workshop can be foudn here.

Registration for the event is not required. No conference/exhibition ticket is necessary.

The M12 meeting of the SOLWATT project will take place in Cranfield, United Kingdom on 12^th and 13^th June 2019. The organizer of this meeting is Cranfield University.

A two day meeting has been planned in order to review the already done work and to discuss further progress of the SOLWATT project. During this semiannual meeting, several technical sessions will take place, where technical issues arising during the previous phase of the project will be discussed. Planning of the further steps and actions will be also discussed during these technical sessions. Generally Assembly meeting will be also held to make some important decisions for a smooth progress of the project.