National Solar Thermal Test Facility

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Students to visit Sandia for firsthand look at STEM careers
March 23, 2023, Media Advisory • ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. — A group of students from Gallup, Miyamura and Grants high schools will visit Sandia National Laboratories on March 30 to see firsthand some of the Labs’ research and technology that career paths in science, technology, engineering and math can lead to. The students will tour Sandia’s National...
Categories: Community / Education, Energy / Environment / Water, Media advisories, Science / Technology / Engineering
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Using the power of the sun to roast green chile
July 6, 2022 • ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. — Every August and September the unmistakable pungent aroma of roasting green chile permeates the air across New Mexico and neighboring states. This delectable staple of regional cuisine is green in color, but roasting the chile pepper to deepen the flavor and make the inedible skin easier to...
Categories: Energy / Environment / Water, Renewable energy
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Roasting green chile on top of Sandia National Laboratories’ National Solar Thermal Test Facility. Roasting green chile with concentrated sunlight instead of propane produces flavorful chile and reduces carbon dioxide emissions. Members of the media interested in b-roll of the experiment, may download the video here.

Sandia creates global archive of historical renewable energy documents
October 6, 2021 • ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. — Sandia National Laboratories began studying the power of the sun to produce utility-scale energy in the 1960s. Sandia’s National Solar Thermal Test Facility was commissioned in 1978, spurred by the oil crisis of 1973. Many of the documents detailing the design, construction and research conducted at the...
Categories: History, Renewable energy
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Two people look at blueprints with Sandia's Solar Tower looming large above.

Here comes the sun: Tethered-balloon tests ensure safety of new solar-power technology
April 22, 2021 • ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. — What do tiny dust particles, 22-foot-wide red balloons and “concentrated” sunlight have in common? Researchers from Sandia National Laboratories recently used 22-foot-wide tethered balloons to collect samples of airborne dust particles to ensure the safety of an emerging solar-power technology. The study determined that the dust created...
Categories: Climate Change, Energy / Environment / Water, Renewable energy
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Two small balloons against a blue sky to the left of a large tower with a

From concept to commercialization: 40 years of concentrating solar power research
July 26, 2018, Media Advisory • ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. — From testing space shuttle tiles to making electricity from sunlight, the world’s first multimegawatt solar tower has contributed to energy research, space exploration, defense testing and solar energy commercialization since it was commissioned at Sandia National Laboratories in July 1978. The solar tower is a key component...
Categories: History, Renewable energy
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Historical sepia toned photo of a crowd looking at the Solar Tower.

Solar tower exposes materials to intense heat to test thermal response
June 21, 2018 • ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. — Sandia National Laboratories is using its solar tower to help assess the impact of extreme temperature changes on materials. The tests, now in their second year, take advantage of the ability of Sandia’s National Solar Thermal Test Facility to simulate a very rapid increase in temperature followed...
Categories: Military / Defense, Science / Technology / Engineering
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Tower tests photo

New fractal-like concentrating solar power receivers are better at absorbing sunlight
October 25, 2017 • ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. — Sandia National Laboratories engineers have developed new fractal-like, concentrating solar power receivers for small- to medium-scale use that are up to 20 percent more effective at absorbing sunlight than current technology. The receivers were designed and studied as part of a Laboratory Directed Research and Development project...
Categories: Science / Technology / Engineering
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AREVA Solar building on Sandia’s molten salt expertise
June 12, 2014 • ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. – A soaring structure on the south side of the Department of Energy’s National Solar Thermal Test Facility (NSTTF) combines two cutting-edge technologies in concentrating solar energy: Compact Linear Fresnel Reflectors and molten salt thermal storage. Using them together is a pioneering concept. Today’s Compact Linear Fresnel systems...
Categories: Renewable energy, Science / Technology / Engineering
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AREVA