US releases rule ensuring only green hydrogen gets $3/kg tax credit

The US government has finally unveiled its long-awaited proposed rules on clean hydrogen production, determining the criteria that developers will have to meet in order to qualify for the hydrogen tax credit of up to $3 per kilogram. The proposed guidelines closely match the draft version that was leaked to the press earlier this month, …

Heliogen Unveils Significant Achievement in Concentrating Solar Technology with Successful Demonstration of Advanced Control Software at Sandia Labs

Heliogen, Inc. (“Heliogen”) (OTCQX: HLGN), a leading provider of AI-enabled concentrating solar energy technology, has demonstrated the effectiveness of its proprietary control system at Sandia National Laboratories’ National Solar Thermal Test Facility (NSTTF). The project, funded by the Department of Energy’s (DOE) Technology Commercialization Fund, marks a leap forward in concentrating solar energy and provides …

Heliogen Announces Semifinalist Position in DOE Heliostat Prize

Innovative wireless heliostat project Heliogen, Inc. («Heliogen») (OTCQX: HLGN), a leading provider of AI-enabled concentrating solar energy technology, today announced its selection as one of nine semifinalists in the U.S. Department of Energy’s (DOE) American-Made Heliostat Prize. This renowned contest, part of a three-phase challenge, accelerates technological innovation in selected heliostat components. Heliogen’s project, «Testing …

US Department of Energy Announces Heliostat Prize Semifinalists

Today, the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) announced nine semifinalists for the American-Made Heliostat Prize, a three-contest challenge designed to accelerate technology innovation of selected heliostat components. The nine semifinalists were selected from the first phase, or concept phase, of the challenge. In the concept phase, competitors identified and developed promising technologies for one of …

Database Shines Spotlight on Decades of Solar Mirror Research

The U.S. Department of Energy’s National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) is preparing to unveil a database containing the results of exposure experiments on solar reflectors conducted over more than four decades. The publicly available Solar Mirror Materials Database (SMMD) will contain information from thousands of solar mirror samples from more than a hundred suppliers that …

Solar-thermal Fuels and Thermal Energy Storage via Concentrated Solar Power

The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) Solar Energy Technologies Office (SETO) announced the Solar-thermal Fuels and Thermal Energy Storage Via Concentrated Solar-thermal Energy funding opportunity, which will award $30 million for projects to produce fuels via renewable energy resources and improve thermal energy storage technologies. The research, development, and demonstration projects resulting from this funding …

What happened with Concentrated Solar Power Crescent Dunes plant?

The Crescent Dunes Concentrated Solar Power project in the US was the first of a kind at 110 MW. The first tower CSP with thermal energy storage at full-scale. (Above about 150 MW, the distances of the solar field encircling the tower receiver has optical limits) It was developed by the RocketDyne-based startup SolarReserve, and …

Concentrated solar power with thermal energy storage can help utilities’ bottom line

The storage capacity of concentrating solar power (CSP) can add significant value to a utility company’s optimal mix of energy sources, a new report by the U.S. Department of Energy’s National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) suggests. The report found that CSP with a six-hour storage capacity can lower peak net loads when the sun isn’t …

How Turbulent Winds Can Increase Efficiency in Concentrated Solar Power

Most people have seen solar photovoltaic panels mounted on rooftops or lined up across sunny fields, but fewer people are as familiar with concentrating solar power (CSP). This form of solar power uses mirrors to concentrate sunlight onto a receiver filled with fluid. The sunlight heats the fluid, producing energy, which can be used to generate …

NREL Postdocs Study Turbulent Winds To Boost Concentrated Solar Power Efficiency

Most people have seen solar photovoltaic panels mounted on rooftops or lined up across sunny fields, but fewer people are as familiar with concentrating solar power (CSP). This form of solar power uses mirrors to concentrate sunlight onto a receiver filled with fluid. The sunlight heats the fluid, producing energy, which can be used to …