The Physics-Sun Institute
The Big Solar Furnace of Uzbekistan - a unique research site
The Physics-Sun Institute of the Academy of Sciences of the Republic of Uzbekistan (the Solar Institute) is located in Parkent District, Tashkent Region, 45km away from Tashkent, at the altitude of 1100m in the Tian Shan foothills. The 700 kW solar furnace – a unique scientific object – is placed on the territory of the institute. Two facilities of this kind are known in the world – the one in France and this one in Uzbekistan.
The heliocomplex built in the 1980s served the objective of Solar observation, carrying out the pilot studies and solar power research. The construction site was chosen with due consideration of multiple factors, including proximity to the capital city, purity of the mountain air, foothill location, earthquake resistance of the rock mass here, optimal weather, and the average of sunny days which equals to 280 a year.
The Big Solar Furnace is a very complex construction with an automatic control system consisting of a heliostat field, solar concentrator and technological tower.
The heliostat field is a mirror construction that consists of 62 heliostats installed in a staggered order on the flat slope of the mountain opposite to the giant concentrator. Each heliostat includes 195 plane mirrors directing sunlight to the concentrator. The heliostats are automatically controlled by special sun-position sensors. The heliostat field has a considerable reflective surface of more than 3000 sq. m. with 12090 mirrors in total!
The most impressive site of the solar laboratory is a huge parabolic solar concentrator using 10700 mirrors with a total area of 1840 sq.m. The world’s largest solar concentrator, it exceeds the size of the French facility by 10 sq.m. The sunlight directed by heliostats is reflected by a parabolic mirror surface of the concentrator and focuses in a power tower. The temperature of a concentrated solar power exceeds 3000°С making it possible to produce pure alloys and fine metals.
The top floor of the concentrator has an observation deck. Visitors can go up here in an elevator. From this spot there’s a breathtaking view of the whole area of the heliostat field, the Chatkal Range, the Parkentsay River and neighboring villages (kishlaks).
Photos:
 |
 |
 |
 |
| back | to the top |
TOUR ORDER
Book a guided tour
To submit the form you need to consent to the processing of personal data.
