Clean Energy Capability Portfolio | Renewable Generation |
Solar Thermal Energy Harvesting and Storage
Expertise in the development of new solar thermal and thermal energy storage technologies to meet the needs of residential and industrial process heat demand profiles . This includes facilities with fluid and heat transfer characterisation and performance testing capabilities to understand the efficiency and performance in a real-world , ‘ on-sun ’ operating environment with simulated loading . |
Competitive Advantage • World-class testing facilities for outdoor testing of prototype solar collectors and thermal storage devices that run on liquid or gaseous working fluids across a range of operating temperatures and pressures
Impact • Ability to characterise and improve the performance of solar thermal and thermal energy storage components and systems
Successful Applications ARC / ARENA / CRC projects :
• Superhydrophobic / nanotechnology and micro solar collectors
• Waste heat recycling for desalination in solar thermal power plants
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Our Collaborators • Vast Energy
• Apricus
• Gree
• Coolsheet
More Information Professor Robert Taylor School of Mechanical and Manufacturing Engineering T : + 61 2 9385 5400 E : robert . taylor @ unsw . edu . au
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• Aluminium processing with solar energy ( current project ) |
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• Hydrogen production via solar thermal / PV systems |
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Capabilities and Facilities |
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• Two outdoor solar laboratories |
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• An indoor lab for fluids and heat transfer measurements ( includes a differential scanning calorimeter , IR cameras , and other thermal characterisation equipment |
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