National Solar Thermal Test Facility (NSTTF)
 |
|
| Established | 1979 |
|---|---|
| Research type | Energy Efficiency & Renewable Energy |
|
Manager
|
Dr. Subhash L Shinde |
| Location | Albuquerque, NM |
|
Operating agency
|
Honeywell International and Sandia National Laboratories |
| Website | [1] |
 The test facility from the air
|
|
|
The test facility from the ground
|
|
|
The test facility from the ground
|
Coordinates: 34°57′50″N 106°30′35″W / 34.963889°N 106.509722°W
Operated by Sandia National Laboratories for the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE), the National Solar Thermal Test Facility (NSTTF) is the only test facility of this type in the United States. The NSTTF’s primary goal is to provide experimental engineering data for the design, construction, and operation of unique components and systems in proposed solar thermal electrical plants planned for large-scale power generation.
The site was built and instrumented to provide test facilities for a variety of solar and non-solar applications. The facility can provide
National Solar Thermal Test Facility During the late 1970s, rising fuel costs and the demand for a cleaner environment gave impetus to advance technology which used solar energy to create electricity. Studies identified the central receiver concept as having high potential to generate electricity on a large scale. The United States government initiated support through the National Science Foundation Research Applied to National Needs (RANN) program in 1972 which was eventually funded by the Energy Research and Development Administration and the Department of Energy. Six central receiver pilot plants were constructed including the 5 MW (thermal) test facility at Sandia National Laboratories.
The heliostat field has 218 individual heliostats. This capability directly supports the SunShot goals by providing flux levels of greater than 250 W/cm2 and total power in excess of 6 MWt. Each heliostat has two motors and two drives (one azimuth and one elevation), one 480 V power box, one electronics box, and one control box and associated cabling. The total reflective area on each heliostat is 37 m2. The reflectivity on the recently replaced facets is 96%.
...
Wikipedia