Abstract

R&D on implementation of concentrated solar energy plays an essential role in environmental sustainability development. An experimental Solar Tower, paired with a heliostat field, was constructed at the Weizmann Institute of Science (WIS) campus in 1987 and serves as the main center for R&D of concentrated solar technologies in Israel. The paper describes the features of the Solar Facilities and the projects that were successfully realized during its 25 years of operation. These projects have been supported by the European Commission and Israeli Ministries of Energy and Industry, including experimental systems for zinc oxide carboreduction, methane reforming, solar energy storage, solar pumped lasers, methane cracking, pressurized air heating for solarized Brayton cycle and different thermo-chemical redox cycles for water splitting, and hydrogen production at atmospheric pressure, as well as under vacuum conditions. This paper also describes the main development in solar concentrating optics, including the worldwide first working beam-down facility based on the Cassegrain reflector principle. Several commercial scale Solar Towers, which were built outside Israel during the last years, were based extensively on results from the WIS Solar Research Facilities Unit (SRFU). Unfortunately, the future of the WIS Solar Tower’s activities is unclear because of the recent decision by the Weizmann Institute administration to change the use of the Solar Tower specific building and turn it into a National Center for Personalized Medicine.