A French startup uses solar thermal energy to produce high-temperature industrial heat, aiming to decarbonize sectors like glass and metallurgy.
Industrial heat challenge persists
Industrial heat is one of the major challenges in decarbonization. Solutions exist, but all have their drawbacks: high costs, difficulty of implementation, limited resources, etc. A French startup wants to change this by relying on solar energy.Startup uses solar thermal energy
To produce decarbonized industrial heat, two French engineers from the space industry are betting on solar energy, but not in any way. By founding their startup Radiant, they are betting on solar thermal energy, going further than what already exists on the market.Concentrated solar power plant
It all starts with a concentrated solar power plant, which, at first glance, seems unoriginal. It includes orientable heliostats that follow the sun's path and allow the concentration of solar radiation toward a point.Disruptive receiver technology
This radiation is transferred to a receiver described as disruptive, capable of reaching a temperature above 1000 °C, where most plants of this type do not exceed 600 °C. Its particularity lies in the fact that it heats air rather than molten salts, a technology that would have required 15 years of research and development.Storage system for solar power
The entire system is associated with a storage device that allows to overcome the natural intermittency of the sun. Radiant indicates a power range between 2 and 50 megawatts thermal (MWth).Prototype plant in Le Mans
To validate the design of their concentrated solar power plant, the startup Radiant is about to inaugurate a 200 kWth plant prototype in Le Mans, on a surface area of 4,000 square meters.High-temperature applications
The temperature that the receiver can reach is far from being trivial; it is actually the crucial point for considering the democratization of this technology. First, achieving temperatures close to 1000 °C expands the application field of this technology to industrial sectors that require high temperatures. This is the case of the glass industry, asphalt or metallurgy.Shift from electricity to industrial heat
Until now, concentrated solar power plants were mainly used to produce electricity, thus competing with photovoltaic plants, which are often much more profitable. This is especially the case of the Ivanpah plant. Considered one of the largest in the world, it has never reached the production expected. Its owners have even sought to partially shut it down.New opportunity for decarbonization
By directly targeting the production of industrial heat, Radiant gives itself a real chance to have influence in the decarbonization solutions for industries. It faces decarbonized solutions that are currently very costly, such as electric furnaces or hydrogen.
