The novel value proposition of AUTO-RST stands on: High optical quality (up to +53%); Ground-breaking design which drastically minimizes the variance of its physical characteristics and performance across the changing temperature working conditions; High reflectance (+1-2%); High stiffness and adaptability to different heliostat solutions; Solar mirror fully supported by the foam which absorbs energy impacts and reduces the risk of breaking during hailstorms.
PROGRESS BEYOND THE SOA IN AUTOMATED MANUFACTURING PROCESS
Unique and Innovative onsite design and manufacturing process which allows to produce big facets of up to 7 sqm, with spherical curvature and slope error better than 0.6 mrad with a cost lower than 25 €/sqm
Flexibility to define different curvatures with minimum adaptations on the system
Flexible and Scalable design with nominal sizes of up to 7 m2
Integrated quality control with a full surface scan on every fabricates facet
Demonstration of the potential degree of automation of the future commercial RST lines
TECHNOLOGICAL RESULTS (TRL6-7 to TRL9)
New generation of final RST’s representative series with implementation and certification of the improvements and technological upgrades, made in the flexible automated pre-series production representative process and validated on real operational environment, available to the professional market from Q12023
Scale-up the flexible automated manufacturing process for the RST facet: Management of the foam components, injection, movements, tempering process, maturation process and optical quality control process
Demonstrate the capacity to produce RST facets with consistent performance and sizes up to 7m2
Reduce the production cycle time from 2 hours per facet down to 15 minutes, approximately
Reduce the manufacturing cost to achieve the target cost of 25 €/m2
COMMERCIAL& BUSINESS RESULTS
-Sales: in 2022/2023 TEWER needs to sell at least 700.000m2: Q-Energy ordered an initial batch of 650 RST facets to replenish the stock in the Gemasolar plant. This represents the first direct supply to the market, providing our first commercial reference in a real plant. Additionally, a potential supply of 30,000 m2 for a full plant replacement is being discussed. Abengoa has kept the interest in procuring an initial batch of 7,500 m2 with a potential procurement of 107,000 m2 (25,000 facets) in Khi Solar One CSP Project in South Africa.
-Engagement of at least 5 clients and a network of value-adding partners in each major CSP market areas by 2022: The case evaluated in Santa Cruz de Tenerife with ABInBev did not result in a fruitful case scenario because of site specific limitations, but the detailed assessment was very valuable to better understand the needs for heat in industrial processes, and led to the realization that the supply of solar heat for heat processes could be optimal for many industrial settings, which has led to engagement with industries where the heat demand is intensive (e.g. Eiffage Infraestructuras and Aviserrano SL).
-Enter the Chinese, LATAM and MENA markets: Tewer participated with the execution of the parabolic trough assembly line in 2019 in Chinese 1st phase comprising 20 CSP. Last year China announced 11 CSP projects with thermal energy storage by 2024, but Chinese CSP players are not actively engaging with foreign companies as in phase 1. Regarding MENA, a very interesting opportunity arose in Israel for the expansion of the existing Negev Ashalim plant.
