Page 52 - European Energy Innovation - Summer 2016 publication

52 Summer 2016 European Energy Innovation
COMMUNICATION
SFERA II
Solar Facilities for the European Research Area
The EU-funded research project SFERA II aims
to boost scientific collaboration among the
leading European research institutions in solar
concentrating systems, offering European research
and industry access to some of the best research
and test infrastructures. The project incorporates the
following activities:
• Transnational Access: Researchers will have
access free of charge to five state-of-the-art high-
flux solar research facilities, unique in Europe and
in the world.
• Networking: This includes the organization of
training courses for industry, summer schools
for the public, doctoral colloquia… The aim is
to create a common training framework and
provides the researchers with the necessary skills
to operate concentrating solar facilities.
• The Joint Research Activities aim to improve the
quality and service of the existing infrastructure,
extend their services and jointly achieve a
common level of high scientific quality.
What is the CSP (Concentrating Solar Power)
technology that is promoted through SFERA II? CSP
is a very promising renewable source of energy.
The best known application so far is bulk electricity
generation through thermodynamic cycles, but other
applications have also been demonstrated, such as
the production of hydrogen and solar fuels, water
treatment and research in advanced materials.
How is the electricity produced? CSP systems
concentrate energy from the sun’s rays to heat a
receiver to high temperatures. This heat is then
transformed into electricity – solar thermal electricity 2017 year, the call will be open
(STE). When combined with thermal storage capacity
of several hours of full-capacity generation, CSP
plants can continue to produce electricity even when
clouds block the sun, or after sundown or in early
morning when power demand steps up, making it
a competitive technology to mitigate climate change.
Five SFERA II Partners: PSA-CIEMAT, PROMES-
CNRS, PSI, ENEA and CIESOL will provide access
to their solar research facilities free of charge. This
opportunity enables to realize high-quality research
in the following areas :
• Solar thermal electricity generation:
thermodynamic cycles, SFERA II CSP research infrastructures
receivers, thermal storage,
concentrating optics, control
algorithms, etc.
• Solar production of chemical
energy carriers: H2, Syngas, etc.
• Cycles for chemical storage of
solar energy: ZnO, etc.
• Solar water treatment:
desalination, disinfection,
detoxification
• Research in basic phenomena
and nano-material production
processes
• Knowledge-based high-added-
value material synthesis:
ceramics, glass, etc.
• High-flux photochemistry and
photo-physics
• Basic knowledge of materials
behaviour and aging under
extreme conditions
To access the five infrastructures
above, the users have to submit
an application through the annual
calls that are launched by the
project. Travel, accommodation
and access to the installations are
all paid by the EU project. For the
from September 2016 to the end
of January 2017. The access period
will take place from March to November 2017. l
FOR MORE INFORMATION
You can visit our website at http://sfera2.sollab.eu or follow us on
LinkedIn to get the latest news on the project.
This project has received funding from the
European Union’s Seventh Framework Programme
for research, technological development and
demonstration under grant agreement no 312643.
www.europeanenergyinnovation.eu