Through this RFI, Department of Energy (DOE) is soliciting information on next-generation (Gen 3) CSP technology.
The DOE launched the SunShot Initiative in 2011 with the goal of making solar electricity cost-competitive with conventionally generated electricity by 2020. The CSP SunShot Program set aggressive targets to achieve lower component costs and higher system efficiencies. Over the course of 5 years, the program’s portfolio of research has developed sub-system technologies potentially capable of efficient operation at higher temperatures, and hold promise to be reliable and cost effective. Yet there has not yet been shown to be a combination of integrated sub-systems that is without at least one significant technical, economic, or reliability risk. To advance next-generation (Gen 3) CSP technology, the DOE SunShot CSP Program asserts that an integrated system of sub-systems and components must be developed to investigate operational uncertainties at a multi-megawatt scale.