Cyprus Institute launches innovative Linear Fresnel Solar Energy System

Finance Minister Harris Georgiades will inaugurate the Linear Fresnel Solar Energy System for Built Environment of the Novel Technologies Laboratory (NTL) of the Cyprus Institute (CyI), on Monday, April 11, at 5p.m.

The inauguration is part of the 3-day workshop organised by The Cyprus Institute at its premises in Nicosia, and will take place between Monday and Wednesday. The event will include a one-day workshop on concentrated solar power (CSP) technologies and a detailed view of the system itself from its designers, plus a one-day training event offered by the installation team targeting technicians and engineers.

The Linear Fresnel Solar Energy System was built by utilising financing provided by the ‘Small Scale Thermal District Units for Mediterranean Communities’ (STS-Med) project, a consortium of 14 organisations from six countries including academic institutions, businesses and governmental departments.

The system installed in Cyprus is one of four pilot systems that were built in the eastern Mediterranean region, with the others situated in Italy, Egypt and Jordan. The system collects solar energy through several rows of mirrors that continuously track the sun’s path and channel the collected heat to a cooling device for the needs of the Novel Technologies Laboratory (NTL), which is now classified as a ‘Nearly Zero Energy Building’ (NZEB), the first of its kind in Cyprus. The mode of integration of the solar system in the existing facilities is also a novelty of the Cyprus Institute (CyI).