• Login
    • Join
  • FOLLOW:
  • Subscribe Free
    • Magazine
    • eNewsletter
    Checkout
    • Magazine
    • News
    • Printed Electronics
    • Raw Materials
    • Equipment
    • Services
    • Suppliers Guide
    • Resources
    • More
  • Magazine
  • News
  • Printed Electronics
  • Raw Materials
  • Equipment
  • Services
  • Suppliers Guide
  • Resources
  • Current & Past Issues
    Features
    Editorials
    Digital Edition
    Subscribe Now
    Advertise Now
    eNewsletter Archive
    Our Team
    Editorial Guidelines
    Breaking News
    Experts Opinion
    Financial News
    Manufacturers News
    Mergers and Acquisitions
    Online Exclusives
    Personnel
    Product Releases
    Suppliers News
    Live From Shows
    Displays and Lighting
    Photovoltaics
    Printed Batteries
    Printed Circuit Boards/Membrane Switches/In Mold Electronics
    Flexible and Printed Electronics
    RFID and NFC
    Sensors and Wearables
    Smart Cards and Packaging
    Touch Screens
    Adhesives, Barriers and Encapsulants
    Chemicals, Metals and Powders
    Conductive Inks and Coatings
    Electronic Materials
    Film, Paper, Glass and Substrates
    Graphene, Perovskites and Carbon Nanotubes
    Nanomaterials
    Printed Electronic Components
    Research Reports
    Semiconductors and Quantum Dots
    Energy Curing Equipment
    Lab and Testing Equipment
    Manufacturing Equipment
    Printing Equipment
    3D Printing
    Contract Manufacturing Services
    Product Design and Testing
    Research and Consulting
    Research Institutions
    Research Reports
    Universities
    Equipment
    All Companies
    Materials
    Categories
    Converting
    Printed Electronics Systems
    Associations
    Research and Services
    Used Machinery
    Add New Company
    Industry Events
    Live from show events
    Podcasts
    Videos
    Blogs
    Slideshows
    Infographics
    Webinars
    Whitepapers
    Equipment and Services
    Glossary
    • Magazine
      • Current & Past Issues
      • Features
      • Editorial
      • Columns
      • Digital Edition
      • eNewsletter Archive
      • Editorial Guidelines
      • Subscribe Now
      • Advertise Now
    • Breaking News
    • Suppliers Guide
      • Add Your Company
      • Suppliers Guide
    • Printed Electronics
      • Photovoltaics
      • Printed Batteries
      • Printed Circuit Boards/Membrane Switches/In Mold Electronics
      • Flexible and Printed Electronics
      • RFID and NFC
      • Sensors and Wearables
      • Smart Cards and Packaging
      • Touch Screens
    • Raw Materials
      • Adhesives, Barriers and Encapsulants
      • Chemicals, Metals and Powders
      • Conductive Inks and Coatings
      • Electronic Materials
      • Film, Paper, Glass and Substrates
      • Graphene, Perovskites and Carbon Nanotubes
      • Nanomaterials
      • Semiconductors and Quantum Dots
    • Equipment
      • Energy Curing Equipment
      • Lab and Testing Equipment
      • Manufacturing Equipment
      • Printing Equipment
      • 3D Printing
    • Services
      • Contract Manufacturing Services
      • Product Design and Testing
      • Research and Consulting
      • Research Institutions
      • Research Reports
      • Universities
    • Online Exclusives
    • Slideshows
    • Blog
    • Videos
    • Podcasts
    • Infographics
    • Events
      • Industry Events
      • Live from show events
      • Webinars
    • About Us
      • About Us
      • Contact Us
      • Advertise With Us
      • Privacy Policy
      • Terms of Use
    Breaking News

    Future Is Bright for NREL's High-Flux Solar Furnace

    The furnace can deliver the heat of 2,500 suns to melt a hole through solid steel in less than a minute.

    Future Is Bright for NREL
    Related CONTENT
    • Bayflex Solutions Expands Endurance Test Capabilities at NextFlex Technology Hub
    • Avnet, ON Semiconductor Accelerate IoT Innovation with New Development Framework
    • Worldwide Semiconductor Revenue Grew 5.4% in 2020 Despite COVID-19: IDC
    • Scotch & Soda Selects Nedap as RFID Partner
    • Xerox Releases 4Q, Full Year Results
    Caitlin Dorsey, NREL12.30.20

    With the breakneck speed of innovation at the National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL), the laboratory's High-Flux Solar Furnace (HFSF) is all the more remarkable for continuously facilitating envelope-pushing research since 1989.

     

    Like some superhero-comic contraption, the furnace can deliver the heat of 2,500 suns to melt a hole through solid steel in less than a minute. It has been used to destroy toxic waste, create hydrogen fuel from water, and develop nuclear defense applications.

     

    Practically speaking, the 10-kilowatt optical furnace harnesses concentrated sunlight to test high-temperature processes or applications that require high heating rates using solar concentration. 

     

    It has been used by universities, NREL researchers, private industry, and federal agencies for durable on-sun testing for 30 years. And, tech-obsessed millennial that it is, the HFSF's recent hardware upgrades help keep it continually in demand among researchers. With access to all that Colorado sunshine from the mesa above NREL's campus, the future looks bright for the furnace.

     

    HFSF manager and research engineer Judy Netter looks back with pride and forward with excitement.

     

    "During the past 30 years, we've helped scores of industry partners—from hydrogen to aerospace to solar. It's been rewarding to see the impact our research has had in such diverse industries," said Netter, NREL research engineer.


    The HFSF supports R&D 100 Award-winning research.

    • Researcher Greg Glatzmaier invented a process that uses heat from the sun to make silicon carbide, a very hard ceramic powder used to make bearings, gaskets, and seals. The concept earned an R&D 100 Award in 1995;
    • Researchers Gary Jorgensen, Allan Lewandowski, Carl Bingham, and Netter developed the R&D 100 Award-winning Ultra-Accelerated Weathering System, co-located and tested at the HFSF.


    The HFSF was designed and built at NREL—then the Solar Energy Research Institute—to expand the laboratory's research to include concentrated sunlight.

     

    "When we decided to build the furnace, we wanted to make it unique and not just duplicate what other folks had done. So, one of the things I started looking into was non-imaging optics, which can allow for very high concentrations of sunlight or other sources of light," said Lewandowski, former senior engineer, NREL. "One requirement is that you need a larger ratio of focal length to diameter—or f/D—for your primary concentrator to take full advantage of secondary optics—in our case, mostly reflective devices. If you have a primary concentrator with a smaller, and more typical, f/D, then you can achieve high peak concentrations, but that concentration degrades rapidly as you move the focal point off-axis. However, if you have a larger f/D, the degradation is less of an issue. This means you can go more and more off-axis and still achieve significant concentrations.
     

    "The off-axis design was a unique feature of the solar furnace. I'm not aware of any other furnace that did it this way at the time. So, a benefit was that none of the light that hits the concentrator is shaded. For all the support systems that go around any given experiment, we didn't need to worry about how big they were. No light coming from behind the experiment would hit the hardware.

     

    "Off-axis design also allowed us to set the focal point of the system to be a convenient working height for scientists, rather than having to use a small tower for support and access, he continued.

     

    "The pedestal, drive, structure, and controls were 'donated' by Lockheed from its stock of parts at its Littleton plant. Lockheed built the original heliostats for the Solar One CSP project in California and this hardware was part of that production. We had a connection through folks who worked there and then moved over to NREL."

     

    "The off-axis, long focal length to diameter ratio design was tailored for the use of secondary concentrators. Our ultimate purpose was to investigate the applications of very high solar concentrations from 2,000 to 46,000 suns. The advantage of a solar furnace is that we could produce high heating rates, able to reach about 2,500 degrees Celsius in a fraction of a second," said Carl Bingham, former HFSF engineer, NREL. "I controlled the furnace and took measurements. Al Lewandowski did the design. I was working in the Buildings group at the time and it sounded like an interesting project. It turned out to be very interesting because we had hundreds of experiments go through there. It wasn't just one long-term project—we were trying to prove what you could do with concentrated sunlight."

     

    In the 30 years of furnace operation, the HFSF has seen hundreds of tests planned and performed with customers and staff from multiple disciplines. It has been involved in R&D 100 Award-winning research, product development, and patent licenses.

     

    "I started using the HFSF around 1996 when I started at CU. My first grant was a subcontract from NREL to look at high-temperature material synthesis—it was a little $10,000 seed grant," said Alan Weimer, professor of chemical engineering, University of Colorado-Boulder (CU). "We did some carbothermal reduction chemistry. It wasn't very significant; it didn't work very well, but it did establish our relationship with Al [Lewandowski] and Carl [Bingham]. That led to over 20 years of joint NREL-CU research at the HFSF. For example, we were funded by the DOE EERE Hydrogen program to basically 'crack' or decarbonize natural gas—to split methane into carbon black and hydrogen.

     

    "We also built a solar reactor on a skid here at CU. It was very well instrumented for temperature and heat flows. We took it to NREL, placed it in the HFSF facility, and ran experiments there to demonstrate some of our water-splitting chemistries," Weimer continued. "In our most recent work with Judy Netter, we demonstrated the continuous production of hydrogen by splitting water on-sun at the furnace by using oxidation-reduction reactions—some pretty significant work."

     

    "We had an early project to investigate advanced materials and were allowed to propose which ideas were the most promising," Bingham said.

    "[Former NREL researcher] Roland Pitts designed a vacuum chamber with a quartz window to admit the concentrated 2500-suns sunlight. Along with Clark Fields, a chemistry professor at the University of Northern Colorado, we investigated superconductor materials, diamond thin films, stainless-steel cladding, and tungsten-carbide synthesis.

     

    "We were testing glazings for solar collectors, back when solar collectors were a big thing. Many times, the glazing would cloud up because of the ultraviolet exposure and it would need to be replaced. So, we were testing different types of plastics with a more concentrated ultraviolet light to determine their service life. That was the basis of the 2009 R&D 100 award for the Ultra-Accelerated Weathering System."

     

    "The proof of concept for the Ultra-Accelerated Weathering System was performed using the HFSF and one of the specialized ultraviolet mirrors in place to reflect the light onto the samples. We received a patent for that process. From there, two different ultraviolet concentrating dishes were developed, with the second one receiving the R&D 100 award," Netter said. 

     

    "We developed the Ultra-Accelerated Weathering System with a group of Russian scientists who had previously been working on nuclear weapons research as part of an international proliferation prevention program," Bingham added.

     

    "My early solar furnace research involved treating and breaking down a set of hazardous chemicals called dioxins, using a combination of sunlight and high temperatures of about 1,100°C," said Glatzmaier, chemical engineering researcher, NREL. "When we started that work, the furnace didn't exist—I was going down to White Sands missile range near Las Cruces, New Mexico because it had a solar furnace that we contracted to use. Because of the success of early tests there, DOE recognized that there were different things you could do with sunlight besides generating electricity. And that was part of the motivation for getting the HFSF built."

     

    "I've used the Solar Furnace in developing a particle receiver as part of the DOE SunShot Initiative. It helped to verify the effectiveness of our design mechanism in terms of the need for solar flux distribution across the surface of the receiver," said Zhiwen Ma, mechanical engineering researcher, NREL. "In a second project, we partnered with students at the Colorado School of Mines to study thermochemical energy storage. We designed and tested a solar thermochemical receiver-reactor to heat thermochemical particles as a means of storing solar energy."

     

    Added Emily Warren, semiconductor engineering researcher, NREL: "We used the HFSF to develop materials for solar thermoelectric generators, or STEGs, as part of an Advanced Research Projects Agency–Energy-funded project. A STEG is a solid-state heat engine that can convert sunlight directly into electricity through the thermoelectric effect. This project—High-Temperature, High-Efficiency Solar Thermoelectric Generators—was a collaboration between NREL, Colorado School of Mines, and the Jet Propulsion Laboratory. We tested selective absorbers and thermoelectric components using a custom-built, on-sun, vacuum chamber and beam-shaping optics to enable testing of materials at 1,000°C."

     

    The HFSF facilitates a variety of research, including NREL's involvement in the DOE HydroGEN project, where the furnace is used for water splitting at 1,300°C to produce hydrogen for power production.

     

    The furnace also holds the potential for future space exploration research, including using concentrated solar power for space mining, breaking down components to produce various chemicals such as carbon dioxide and oxygen, and testing heat shields for spacecraft.

    Suggested For You
    ON Semiconductor Announces New 650V Silicon Carbide MOSFETs ON Semiconductor Announces New 650V Silicon Carbide MOSFETs
    Bayflex Solutions Expands Endurance Test Capabilities at NextFlex Technology Hub Bayflex Solutions Expands Endurance Test Capabilities at NextFlex Technology Hub
    Avnet, ON Semiconductor Accelerate IoT Innovation with New Development Framework Avnet, ON Semiconductor Accelerate IoT Innovation with New Development Framework
    Worldwide Semiconductor Revenue Grew 5.4% in 2020 Despite COVID-19: IDC Worldwide Semiconductor Revenue Grew 5.4% in 2020 Despite COVID-19: IDC
    Scotch & Soda Selects Nedap as RFID Partner Scotch & Soda Selects Nedap as RFID Partner
    Xerox Releases 4Q, Full Year Results Xerox Releases 4Q, Full Year Results
    Annual Outlooks at Virtual ISS 2021 Point to Global Economic, Chip Industry Growth Annual Outlooks at Virtual ISS 2021 Point to Global Economic, Chip Industry Growth
    Sensormatic Solutions Launches Sensormatic IQ Sensormatic Solutions Launches Sensormatic IQ
    IDTechEx Reports Smart Building Opportunities for Printed Sensors IDTechEx Reports Smart Building Opportunities for Printed Sensors
    Filippa K Selects Nedap to Power Omnichannel Fulfillment Filippa K Selects Nedap to Power Omnichannel Fulfillment
    Flexible Electronics Is Proving to Be Ideal for Healthcare Flexible Electronics Is Proving to Be Ideal for Healthcare
    Susan Carter Joins ON Semiconductor Board of Directors Susan Carter Joins ON Semiconductor Board of Directors
    North American Semiconductor Equipment Industry Posts September 2020 Billings North American Semiconductor Equipment Industry Posts September 2020 Billings
    Applied Materials, BE Semiconductor Accelerating Chip Integration for Semiconductor Industry Applied Materials, BE Semiconductor Accelerating Chip Integration for Semiconductor Industry
    Vistra Corp. Selects First Solar PV Modules for Texas Projects Vistra Corp. Selects First Solar PV Modules for Texas Projects

    Related Breaking News

    • Breaking News | Flexible and Printed Electronics | Research Institutions | Universities
      NextFlex Massachusetts Provides Node Update

      NextFlex Massachusetts Provides Node Update

      NextFlex Massachusetts Node kicked off a series of webinars to introduce the Node to the FHE community in Massachusetts and across the U.S.
      Anthony Locicero, Associate editor 02.24.21

    • Breaking News | Financial News | Photovoltaics
      SolarWindow Responds to

      SolarWindow Responds to 'Short-And-Distort' Campaign

      CEO: “We will not be bullied. We will protect our stockholders.”
      Anthony Locicero, Associate editor 02.24.21

    • Breaking News | Film, Paper, Glass and Substrates | Financial News | Suppliers News
      SCHOTT Sales, Earnings Increase in 2020

      SCHOTT Sales, Earnings Increase in 2020

      Company eyes continued growth in the US, which represents approximately 20% of its sales.
      David Savastano, Editor 02.24.21


    • Breaking News | Financial News | RFID and NFC | Suppliers News
      Brady Corporation Reports Fiscal 2021 2Q Results

      Brady Corporation Reports Fiscal 2021 2Q Results

      Net cash provided by operating activities was $36.1 million in 2Q 2021 compared to $14.3 million in 2Q 2020.
      David Savastano, Editor 02.24.21

    • Breaking News | Displays and Lighting | Personnel | Semiconductors and Quantum Dots
      Osram CEO Olaf Berlien Departing

      Osram CEO Olaf Berlien Departing

      He will be succeeded by Ingo Bank, who will assume the role of Osram CEO in addition to his role as CFO of ams AG.
      Anthony Locicero, Associate editor 02.24.21

    • Breaking News | Research Institutions | Semiconductors and Quantum Dots
      Imec Pushes Single-Exposure Patterning Capability of 0.33NA EUVL to Extreme Limits

      Imec Pushes Single-Exposure Patterning Capability of 0.33NA EUVL to Extreme Limits

      Presented several papers that demonstrate ultimate single-exposure patterning capability of today’s 0.33NA NXE:3400 extreme ultraviolet lithography.
      Anthony Locicero, Associate editor 02.24.21


    • Breaking News | Flexible and Printed Electronics | Photovoltaics | Sensors and Wearables
      Printed, Hybrid, In-Mold Electronics: Innovation, Market Trends

      Printed, Hybrid, In-Mold Electronics: Innovation, Market Trends

      Topics include flexible hybrid electronics, precision additive and R2R printing, printed and R2R photovoltaics, and hybrid CMOS SWIR sensors.
      Anthony Locicero, Associate editor 02.23.21

    • Breaking News | Displays and Lighting | Flexible and Printed Electronics | Manufacturers News | Suppliers News
      Ynvisible, SpotSee Bringing New Temperature Indication Solutions to Market

      Ynvisible, SpotSee Bringing New Temperature Indication Solutions to Market

      Ynvisible's displays are integrated into smart-labels and then applied on the surface of or inside logistics packaging.
      Anthony Locicero, Associate editor 02.23.21

    • Breaking News | Flexible and Printed Electronics | Manufacturers News | Research Institutions | Suppliers News | Universities
      OE-A Hosts Printed Electronics Competition

      OE-A Hosts Printed Electronics Competition

      OE-A Competition 2021 participants will showcase broad spectrum of flexible, printed electronics with products, prototypes and designs at LOPEC 2021 online.
      Anthony Locicero, Associate editor 02.23.21


    • Breaking News | Contract Manufacturing/Printing | Flexible and Printed Electronics
      Flex Joins Valuable 500 to Further Drive Disability Inclusion

      Flex Joins Valuable 500 to Further Drive Disability Inclusion

      "People with disabilities are an integral part of our Flex Family," CEO Revathi Advaithi said.
      Anthony Locicero, Associate editor 02.23.21

    • Breaking News | Contract Manufacturing/Printing | Flexible and Printed Electronics
      Jabil Expands Caribbean Healthcare Operations

      Jabil Expands Caribbean Healthcare Operations

      Jabil Healthcare facility in the Dominican Republic expected to generate 500+ new job opportunities.
      Anthony Locicero, Associate editor 02.23.21

    • Breaking News | Displays and Lighting | Electronic Materials | Financial News | Suppliers News
      Universal Display Announces 4Q, Full Year 2020 Financial Results

      Universal Display Announces 4Q, Full Year 2020 Financial Results

      Total revenue in the fourth quarter of 2020 was $141.5 million compared to $101.7 million in 4Q 2019.
      David Savastano, Editor 02.23.21


    • Breaking News | Energy Curing/Sintering | Product Releases | Suppliers News
      Phoseon Technology Introduces Near-Infrared LED Lamps

      Phoseon Technology Introduces Near-Infrared LED Lamps

      Ideal for novel NIR curable adhesives and R&D on such applications, said Simon Reissmann, Technical Marketing engineer for Phoseon Technology.
      Anthony Locicero, Associate editor 02.22.21

    • Breaking News | RFID and NFC
      ASSA ABLOY Aids Contactless Payment for Public Transport Passengers in Stockholm

      ASSA ABLOY Aids Contactless Payment for Public Transport Passengers in Stockholm

      Solution from Access-IS, a part of ASSA ABLOY Group company HID Global.
      Anthony Locicero, Associate editor 02.22.21

    • Breaking News | Conductive Inks and Coatings | Flexible and Printed Electronics
      ChemCubed, Phoenix United Associates Partner

      ChemCubed, Phoenix United Associates Partner

      Phoenix UAI will now represent ElectroJet brand solutions for printed electronics.
      Anthony Locicero, Associate editor 02.22.21

    Trending
    • ASSA ABLOY Aids Contactless Payment For Public Transport Passengers In Stockholm
    • Osram CEO Olaf Berlien Departing
    • Ynvisible, SpotSee Bringing New Temperature Indication Solutions To Market
    • Global Printed Circuit Board Market Projected To Reach $69.32 Billion By 2027
    • SEMICON West Rescheduled To December 2021
    Breaking News
    • NextFlex Massachusetts Provides Node Update
    • SolarWindow Responds to 'Short-And-Distort' Campaign
    • SCHOTT Sales, Earnings Increase in 2020
    • Brady Corporation Reports Fiscal 2021 2Q Results
    • Osram CEO Olaf Berlien Departing
    View Breaking News >
    CURRENT ISSUE

    Fall 2020

    • Flexible Electronics Is Proving to Be Ideal for Healthcare
    • COVID-19 and the Printed Electronics Industry
    • Smart Packaging Looks to Move Forward
    • Electronic & Conductive Ink Conference Showcases Future of Ink Technology
    • Printed Electronics Now’s International Suppliers’ Directory
    • View More >

    Cookies help us to provide you with an excellent service. By using our website, you declare yourself in agreement with our use of cookies.
    You can obtain detailed information about the use of cookies on our website by clicking on "More information”.

    • About Us
    • Privacy Policy
    • Terms And Conditions
    • Contact Us

    follow us

    Subscribe
    Nutraceuticals World

    Latest Breaking News From Nutraceuticals World

    Clinical Trial Finds Metabolic Benefits for Polyphenols Formula
    JRF Technology Debuts Elderberry Oral Film Strip
    Danone Adds to Plant-Based Portfolio with Acquisition of Follow Your Heart Brand
    Coatings World

    Latest Breaking News From Coatings World

    Hempel Launches Sustainability Framework: Futureproof
    ChemQuest Hires Rich Gibson
    New Increase in Kynar Fluoropolymer Capacities at Arkema's Chinese Site
    Medical Product Outsourcing

    Latest Breaking News From Medical Product Outsourcing

    Terumo to Purchase Predictive Analytics Firm Health Outcomes Sciences
    Abiomed Leader Michael Minogue Named AdvaMed Board Chairman
    TransEnterix Changes Name to Asensus Surgical
    Contract Pharma

    Latest Breaking News From Contract Pharma

    Altasciences Contributes to Vibegron Approval
    Cyprium, Sentynl Therapeutics Ink Asset Purchase Agreement
    Pfizer Selects Seven Bridges to Support RNA Sequencing Data
    Beauty Packaging

    Latest Breaking News From Beauty Packaging

    Madison Reed Raises $52 Million in Financing Round
    The Estée Lauder Companies Closes Becca Cosmetics
    Afro Sheen Launches New Brand Initiatives
    Happi

    Latest Breaking News From Happi

    PBA Opposes House Bill 2325 in West Virginia
    J.R. Watkins Tackles Pain with New Lines
    RB Launches Vanish Miracle
    Ink World

    Latest Breaking News From Ink World

    Etiflex Enters New Markets with Nilpeter FA-22 Installation
    Hydrocarbon Solvents Market to Surpass $8.1 Billion by 2030
    Lowe-Martin Adds 2 KODAK NEXFINITY Digital Presses
    Label & Narrow Web

    Latest Breaking News From Label & Narrow Web

    Eaglewood Technologies debuts new anilox cleaning system
    INX International and VerifyMe sign supply agreement
    Soma partners with DTM Flexo Services
    Nonwovens Industry

    Latest Breaking News From Nonwovens Industry

    H&V Announces Price Increase
    Fiber Bond VE3 Technology Inactivates SARS-CoV-2 in HVAC Filtration Systems
    Citizens Provides $325 Million Senior Credit Facility to Nice-Pak
    Orthopedic Design & Technology

    Latest Breaking News From Orthopedic Design & Technology

    NuVasive Nabs Simplify Medical for $150M
    SeaSpine Begins Limited Launch of WaveForm TA (TLIF Articulating) 3D-Printed Interbody
    Nexus Spine Implants for Use in Spinal Surgeries Become Available
    Printed Electronics Now

    Latest Breaking News From Printed Electronics Now

    Comercial Kywi Improves Customer Service, Front-Store Operations with Zebra Mobile Solution
    Global Printed Circuit Board Market Projected to Reach $69.32 Billion by 2027
    RFID Locks Market to Reach $9.93 Billion by 2027: Allied Market Research

    Copyright © 2021 Rodman Media. All rights reserved. Use of this constitutes acceptance of our privacy policy The material on this site may not be reproduced, distributed, transmitted, or otherwise used, except with the prior written permission of Rodman Media.

    AD BLOCKER DETECTED

    Our website is made possible by displaying online advertisements to our visitors.
    Please consider supporting us by disabling your ad blocker.


    FREE SUBSCRIPTION Already a subscriber? Login