The National Solar Thermal Test Facility (NSTTF) is operated by Sandia National Laboratories for the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE). The 10-acre research and development (R&D) and testing facility located in Albuquerque, New Mexico, provides access to unique testing infrastructure which can achieve some of the highest and most controlled solar concentrations in the world. The NSTTF is home to Sandia’s Concentrating Solar Thermal (CST) group, which conducts cutting-edge R&D to make CST more efficient, more economical, and more broadly applicable to the nation’s electricity and thermal energy needs.
History
Construction on the NSTTF began in 1976, and the site was commissioned in 1978. Throughout its existence, the NSTTF contributed to research in renewable energy, space exploration, and defense capabilities. The NSTTF led the early development of the first pilot concentrating solar power (CSP) tower plants: Solar One, a seven-megawatt pilot plant completed in the Mojave Desert in 1981, and Solar Two, an upgrade of the plant in 1995 to ten megawatts of production and three hours of thermal storage using molten salts. The NSTTF contributed to the progression of concentrating solar thermal (CST) and CSP technologies, from early steam-based solar receivers to molten salt heat transfer and storage media, to next-generation solid particle technologies which unlock higher efficiencies, lower costs, and longer-duration renewable energy storage. The NSTTF also supported a range of CST technologies including parabolic troughs, dish concentrators, and heliostat field designs from the R&D stage to deployment at the commercial scale.
Today
The National Solar Thermal Test Facility (NSTTF) is the only test facility of its kind in the United States, providing ultra-high flux and temperature capabilities using concentrated sunlight, supporting the development of renewable energy technologies and non-solar testing capabilities.
Tools include:
- Solar Tower and Heliostat Field
- Generation 3 Particle Pilot Plant (G3P3)
- Molten Salt Test Loop (MSTL)
- Thermo-Chemical Test Chamber
- Electric-heating Test Facility (ETF)
- Solar Furnace
- High-Flux Solar Simulator
NSTTF Fact Sheet
National Solar Thermal Test Facility Fact Sheet
Virtual Tour
Take a virtual tour of the National Solar Thermal Test Facility.
Video
View an animated video of the Generation 3 Particle Pilot Plan components.