SFERA-III – Solar Facilities for the European Research Area

The project intends to engage all major European advanced solar laboratories with relevant and recognized activities in the technology field of concentrated solar radiation and Concentrated Solar Power (CSP). It provides access to high-quality research infrastructures (RIs) and services to European and non-European researchers from academy and industry. They can conduct first-class experimental research focusing on CSP and CSP-related activities but also other high temperature and high flux applications for research and industry, free of charge. Through SFERA-III researchers can access the R&D infrastructures of the Fraunhofer ISE.

Within the framework of the SFERA-III project, Fraunhofer ISE also offers training for industry on various topics. In 2019, an industry training course on central receivers and heliostats took place. Furthermore, a summer academy for postdoctoral students was organized in September 2019, which will take place again in 2021. The same year, Fraunhofer ISE will offer a training course on industrial process heat and a workshop on the calibration of soiling measurement devices.

The fifth transnational access campain has been launched in december 2022.

In 2019 many successful visitor projects took place at Fraunhofer ISE and we are looking forward to the new applications for 2021. A particular success was the project "EISSC" with researchers from the Politecnico di Milano.  An extract from the SFERA III-website:

"This project is a success story for fruitful cooperation between researchers from different institutions, combining their expertise. The ambition and skill of the visiting researchers from the Politecnico di Milano combined with the expertise and infrastructure variety of measurement devices at the Fraunhofer Institute for Solar Energy Systems made obtaining highly valuable results in a short period of time possible."

For concentrated solar thermal power, energy storage and water treatment technologies, we develop materials, components, systems and processes. In addition to its R&D, the institute offers testing and certification procedures. Furthermore, it features an excellent laboratory infrastructure. In the SFERA-III project, we offer access to the following installations:

The course included theoretical and practical modules covering the following topics:

• Central receiver technologies and qualification: Typical thermodynamic processes for electricity and material production; storage technologies for solar tower; metrology of their power measurement; infrared receiver temperature measurement using UAV (drones).
• Heliostats fields design and operation: Heliostat field design optimization techniques and constraints such as latitude influence; raytracing software and design tools for heliostats fields; training with the free Solstice raytracing software; practical test case: visit of the wireless field of the solar tower Thémis at Targassonne; practical test case: visit of the wired field of the Solar Furnace at Odeillo.
• Characterisation of heliostats fields: Optical quality determination techniques (photogrammetry, deflectometry); demonstration of the optical calibration of solar tower heliostats; power distribution and aiming characterisation techniques.