The colossal potential and inexhaustibility of solar energy makes mankind again and again turn to the tempting idea of using the sun in various sectors of the economy. In the 1970s, research was carried out in several physical and technical scientific institutions of the Soviet Union on the application of high-temperature technologies based on the concentration of solar energy.
The accumulation of experience in these experimental developments and the successful operation of several small power-generating facilities became the basis for the creation of a unique research and production solar complex "Solntse". This facility was built in Uzbekistan in 1981-1987. It is the world's largest Large Solar Oven. It can be used to smelt ultra-pure and heat-resistant composite materials for the aviation and space industries. There are only two such structures in the world. Second Large Solar Oven in France.
How BSP works
The technological process of the solar complex is as follows. Heliostat mirrors direct the sun's rays onto an extensive mirror concentrator. It focuses them on the solar collector of the furnace, where the high-temperature melting process starts.
The complex is located at an altitude of 1,100 meters above sea level.
The window that receives concentrated sunlight is only one meter in diameter. The inner working surface of the technological tower, in which melting is taking place, is cooled by water circulation. And the operator of the pyrometric laboratory monitors and controls the melting process.
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Description of the components of the solar complex
Heliostats, which “catch” the sun's rays and send them to the concentrator, are placed on stepped terraces, in a checkerboard pattern so as not to shade each other. Each of the 62 heliostats, measuring 7.5 x 6.5 m, is made up of 195 square mirrors, measuring half a meter by half a meter. In total, 12090 mirrors are busy collecting sunlight.
In addition, each heliostat includes special rotary devices with sensors. They follow the movement of the sun across the sky, and the heliostats are also turning after it. Each spins and changes its angle of inclination independently of the others.
All solar energy from the heliostats is collected in a single stream by a solar concentrator. This fixed structure, the height of a 12-storey building, consists of 10,700 mirrors. Its size is 54 x 47 m, and the total mirror surface area is 1840 m2. A hub is a giant concave mirror. The light beam in which it collects the sun's rays allows it to instantly receive temperatures up to 3500 degrees Celsius.
The strength and stability of this huge structure is ensured by the connection of the metal frame of the concentrator with huge slabs of monolithic reinforced concrete, which are laid on the rocky base. The weight of the metal structure is 200 thousand tons.
The large solar oven is not only a unique optical-mechanical complex controlled by sophisticated automatic systems. This is a real architectural monument. It is located in the city of Parkent, 47 km north-east of the capital of Uzbekistan. It is well maintained and regularly hosts tourist groups.