We carry out research in Concentrating Solar Power, Solar Thermal materials and applications, thermal energy storage, and thermal energy harvesting.

We house the only UK academic research team working exclusively on concentrating solar thermal and related technologies, with current projects including:

  • concentrating solar power for electrical power generation
  • solar collector characterisation and ageing evaluation
  • polymer films for solar power plant heliostats and line-focus solar collectors
  • linear Fresnel community scale CSP
  • heliostat design and manufacture
  • solar thermal heating and cooling
  • solar driven desalination and water purification
  • thermal storage
  • nanostructured thermo-electric devices for energy harvesting.

Current collaborations include work not only in the UK but also with Egypt, Italy, Spain, Germany, Saudi Arabia, Morocco, Libya, Jordan, Lebanon, Pakistan, USA, and French Guiana.

We are also the sole UK representative on the EERA-Joint Committee on CSP which steers EU research in CSP, and has been employed as a CSP consultant to the Carbon Trust on “Small-scale Concentrated Solar Power - A review of current activity and potential to accelerate deployment” in a study funded by the UK Government through the Department of Energy and Climate Change (DECC) and the Department for International Development (DFID).

About our research

Our impact