One of the National Security
Administration's three national laboratories is building regional
testing centers around the country to field-test hardware for solar
companies before their multimillion-dollar solar systems are
installed in buildings.
The Sandia National Laboratory is building test centers in
Albuquerque, Denver, Las Vegas, Orlando, Fla., and Burlington, Vt.,
the Albuquerque Journal reported.
"The centers are designed to not only provide independent
assessments of commercial systems, but to do that in multiple
locations and climates," Sandia solar group member Jennifer Granata
said.
The test facilities will provide enhanced monitoring and improved
performance prediction capabilities for new technologies and will
have detailed weather stations and measuring and monitoring
equipment such as simulators, performance curve tracers and infrared
and digital cameras.
They will help develop standard procedures to assess performance
of large-scale systems that other labs, utilities and investors can
use.
Select companies will then set up their own systems of between 10
and 300 kilowatts on site. The companies doing field testing at the
centers will be responsible for the costs of their systems, while
the government will provide labor and expertise.
The lab also just completed a $17.8 million upgrade to its
National Solar Thermal Test Facility in Albuquerque.
While the test centers will focus on solar systems that directly
convert sunlight to electricity, the lab's Solar Thermal Test
Facility is working to improve concentrating solar power systems
that use sunlight to heat liquids to generate steam for turbine
generators.
That facility was established in 1976 in Albuquerque, but much of
it had never been updated until now. Upgrades included construction
of a $10 million Molten Salt Test Loop, and a nearly $4 million
overhaul of the facility's "solar tower."
Concentrating solar power systems are increasingly using molten
salt to retain heat from the sun because it's cheap and abundant,
and it stores thermal energy for long periods, allowing the systems
to generate steam for turbines well after the sun goes down. But
energy developers need a better understanding of how pressure, high
temperature and flow rates interact and affect a system's overall
operation.
