A new 500 m2 paraboloidal dish solar concentrator

The Australian National University (ANU) has worked for many years on paraboloidal dish solar concentrators and demonstrated a 400 m2 system in 1994. The commercialization of this technology has involved a re-design of the Big Dish concept for mass production. The new design is a 500 m2 concentrator with 13.4 m focal length and altitude–azimuth tracking. It uses 380 identical spherical 1.17 m × 1.17 m mirror panels, which incorporate the Glass-on-Metal Laminate mirrors. Construction of a first prototype on the ANU campus began in the first quarter of 2008. The first on sun test was carried out on 29 June 2009.