Our SME project addresses the vast and under-served market for solar process heat, defined as the provision of solar generated heat to industrial thermal processes up to 250°C. This market is worth more than 26 billion €/year, with a current penetration rate of traditional solar thermal technologies of less than 0.02%.Our business idea eliminates any risk for the end user thanks to a first-of-its-kind business model which can be implemented only by exploiting our company’s unique set of achieved and planned technical developments on concentrated solar thermal systems.
We will develop cost competitive re-deployable solar boilers, i.e. turn-key and easy-to-install concentrating solar thermal systems of at least 1MWt which can be used to sell heat (as opposed to equipment) to our target customers. Industrial users rarely want to commit to long term heat purchase contracts. Re-deployability and competitive cost enable us to offer minimal initial commitment (only 3 years) for the purchase of solar heat.
Afterwards, if the client is happy he will continue to buy the energy, otherwise we can take the system back and re-deploy it (i.e. use it again at a different user’s site). This highly innovative commercial approach, made possible by the technological breakthrough of the system’s re-deployability, will boost market penetration.
The specific Technical developments (TDs) planned within Re-Deploy are Redeployability Enablers (REs), i.e. technical innovations that are specifically developed to reduce the cost (including Logistics and Installation) of re-deploying a solar boiler from one location to another. More specifically, the REs are
1. Develop tools and procedures to disassemble receiver tubes and reuse them in another installation without losing performance
2. Optimized plug-and-play- solar boiler BOP, integrating overall electrical connection and solar field control cabinet, with max 5 hydraulic connections and standardized pump, heat exchanger, vessel and control panel
3. Adoption of reusable foundations (metal poles/screws) instead of concrete blocks
4. Design the solar field in modular subfields with predesigned components to minimize piping activities and facilitate recycling of piping and insulation materials
5. Integrate actions to reduce packaging and transport cost:
a. Adoption of custom-designed reusable racks
b. Optimized use of container space (eg.: compenetrating pieces to reduce air gaps)
c. In-house containerization station to reduce containerization cost from shipping cost
6. Minimize solar field erection effort:
a. Avoid field adjustments and regulations via manufacturing built-in
precision (CNC machining,..) and installation procedures (sequenced
installation, cross referenced components)
b. Reduce the number of connections per module required during erection
c. Limit welding activities to receiver tube connections
7. Detailed guidelines for Engineering and Project Management
