Concentrated solar power with an ultrahigh temperature higher than 600°C is an emerging technology to cut down the fossil fuel consumptions. A high-temperature particle receiver may drive a new power cycle with higher efficiency or to drive energy density industrial applications, such as alumina calcination, producing petrochemicals, cement, and steel processes that traditionally rely on the burning of fossil fuels. At those high temperatures, new processes and materials can be used to drastically increase the storage energy density and conversion efficiency. Moreover, the high-temperature solar energy can be used to drive thermochemical processes for the production of fuels (e.g. hydrogen, syngas, methanol, kerosene, diesel).
The high-temperature concentration solar energy is a promising alternative to fossil fuels in electric power plants and industrial applications. Novel solar collectors are required to concentrate the solar irradiation to ultrahigh temperature with acceptable efficiency and cost. Energy storage is an essential component for the concentrated solar energy system, including sensible and latent heat storage, and thermochemistry. The solar reactor design should be comprehensively investigated to convert the solar irradiation to hydrogen or hydrocarbon. The solar integrated system can reduce the fossil fuel consumption as solar heat can not only replace fossil fuel consumption but also change the material footprints, such as zero-emission to the atmosphere and increasing the quality of syngas produced by gasification or reforming. Moreover, it is beneficial for concentrate solar power to develop an advanced power cycle that can obtain higher efficiency and lower cost. Also, the dynamic response to the intermittence and fluctuation of solar intensity should be considered to make the system operate continuously. The studies for high-temperature solar energy utilization can give a science and technology foundation for energy sustainable development.
The Topic Editors welcome submissions of Original Research articles, Reviews, Perspectives, Opinion articles. The themes covered in this Research Topic include but are not limited to the following:
- Solar collector and reactor for high-temperature concentration
- Solar thermochemical technologies for solar fuel production.
- Advanced power cycle for the high-temperature solar energy
- High-temperature heat storage materials and technologies
- Dynamic analysis of the solar hybrid system
- Process integration and parameter optimization
- Heat and mass transfer enhancement and process intensification
- Technical, economic and life cycle assessments and simulation methodologies
Keywords: Concentrated solar power, Solar chemistry, High-temperature thermal energy storage, Solar heat integration, New power cycle
Important note: All contributions to this Research Topic must be within the scope of the section and journal to which they are submitted, as defined in their mission statements. Frontiers reserves the right to guide an out-of-scope manuscript to a more suitable section or journal at any stage of peer review.
