Research on concentrating solar power (CSP) technologies began in 1979 in China. With pressure on environmental and energy resources, the CSP technology development has been accelerating since 2003. After 30 years of development, China has made significant progress on solar absorbing materials, solar thermal-electrical conversion materials, solar energy storage materials, solar concentrator equipments, evacuated tube solar trough collectors, solar thermal receivers, solar dish-Stirling systems, solar high-temperature air power generations, and solar power tower system designs. A 1 MW solar tower plant demonstration project landmark is currently being built in Beijing, to be completed by 2010 with a maximum temperature of 390°C and pressure of 2.35 MPa.
Two-stage solar power tower cavity-receiver design and thermal performance analysis