Solar Thermochemistry

Thermochemistry is the study of heat flow to or from a chemical reaction. Solar thermochemistry is an emergent process technology that uses concentrated solar energy to drive endothermic chemical reactions at elevated temperatures.

Applications

• production of carbon-neutral fuels (examples: water splitting or solar upgrading of hydrocarbons)
• solar metallurgy
• dissociation reactions, e.g. zinc (project: "SOLZINC")
• purification reactions
• A photogalvanic device is a type of battery in which the cell solution (or equivalent) forms energy-rich chemical intermediates when illuminated
• Photoelectrochemical cells or PECs consist of a semiconductor, typically titanium dioxide or related titanates, immersed in an electrolyte.

Related pages on OSE Wiki

Metal Refining, Heliostat, Solar Metallurgy, Solar Upgrading of Hydrocarbons

External Links

• ETHZ Zürich: Solar thermochemical process technology
• image gallery: SOLZINC pilot plant at Weizmann Institute of Science, Rehovot
• Sandia's Sunshine to Petrol (S2P) technology