Objective
The principle of concentrated solar power (CSP) is to reflect and focus solar energy collected from a wide area on to one point, using the thermal energy to produce steam or a hot liquid in order to transfer or store the energy.
For this proposal, the solar collector will be made of carbon fibre composite material. This can be designed to be stiff (maintaining its position) whilst being light weight. For a similar sized currently used heliostat CSP, the structure would be self supporting (Sandwich structure) the weight would be 627kg, giving a weight saving of 80% of the backed structure and 23% of the unreinforced glass collector.
This weight saving has benefits in terms of installation and transportation, but the main advantage of the weight saving is, the energy required to adjust the collector would be greatly reduced thus a reduced energy control system could move the collectors during service. With the metal components removed, corrosion resistance is greatly reduced.
An advantage of a carbon fibre structure is the low coefficient of thermal expansion. In the areas that will benefit most from a CSP, the arid conditions produce high temperature variations daily.
The technical goal of this project is to produce lightweight yet robust components for CSP
collector components. Materials and processes will be identified and exploited to optimise the product and issues preventing optimisation will be investigated and solved. This proposal will have several aspects of work. Design and production of a novel composite collector, producing an adequate reflective surface on the composite, ensuring composite supports for the reflective surface, protecting that surface, and evaluating the effectiveness of the product. Physical Vapour Deposition (PVD) will be considered to deposit a highly reflective coating onto a composite that will need to be manufactured to a high accuracy (surface finish) and durability.
Fields of science (EuroSciVoc)
CORDIS classifies projects with EuroSciVoc, a multilingual taxonomy of fields of science, through a semi-automatic process based on NLP techniques. See: https://op.europa.eu/en/web/eu-vocabularies/euroscivoc.
CORDIS classifies projects with EuroSciVoc, a multilingual taxonomy of fields of science, through a semi-automatic process based on NLP techniques. See: https://op.europa.eu/en/web/eu-vocabularies/euroscivoc.
- engineering and technology electrical engineering, electronic engineering, information engineering electronic engineering control systems
- engineering and technology materials engineering composites
- engineering and technology materials engineering coating and films
- engineering and technology environmental engineering energy and fuels renewable energy solar energy concentrated solar power
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Programme(s)
Multi-annual funding programmes that define the EU’s priorities for research and innovation.
Multi-annual funding programmes that define the EU’s priorities for research and innovation.
Topic(s)
Calls for proposals are divided into topics. A topic defines a specific subject or area for which applicants can submit proposals. The description of a topic comprises its specific scope and the expected impact of the funded project.
Calls for proposals are divided into topics. A topic defines a specific subject or area for which applicants can submit proposals. The description of a topic comprises its specific scope and the expected impact of the funded project.
Call for proposal
Procedure for inviting applicants to submit project proposals, with the aim of receiving EU funding.
Procedure for inviting applicants to submit project proposals, with the aim of receiving EU funding.
FP7-SME-2011
See other projects for this call
Funding Scheme
Funding scheme (or “Type of Action”) inside a programme with common features. It specifies: the scope of what is funded; the reimbursement rate; specific evaluation criteria to qualify for funding; and the use of simplified forms of costs like lump sums.
Funding scheme (or “Type of Action”) inside a programme with common features. It specifies: the scope of what is funded; the reimbursement rate; specific evaluation criteria to qualify for funding; and the use of simplified forms of costs like lump sums.
Coordinator
DE72 3PS DRAYCOTT
United Kingdom
The total costs incurred by this organisation to participate in the project, including direct and indirect costs. This amount is a subset of the overall project budget.