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Solar Thermal Group News/ Milestones April 2007: Wizard Power awarded an Australian Greenhouse Office grant of $7.4m  towards a $14.4m project to build a 4 dish system demonstrating ammonia based thermochemical energy storage.  Announcement  Canberra Times Article 27 February 2007: The Solar Thermal Group's facilities survive a freak hailstorm that causes damage accross the ANU campus September 2006: ANU hosts the Solar 2006, ANZSES conference, delegates vistist the Solar Thermal Facilities March 2006: Solar Thermal Group trough mirrors featured at launch of CSIRO’s National Solar Energy Centre http://www.det.csiro.au/science/r_h/nsec.htm December 2005: Wizard Power awarded an AusIndustry Renewable Energy Development Initiative grant of $3.5m towards a $7m project on dish technology with the Solar Thermal Group.   November 2005: Solar Air Heater test array installed. October 2005: Solar Thermal Group Ships 130m2 of trough concentrator mirror modules to the CSIRO Energy Centre in Newcastle. The trough system built in collaboration with the group is to be used for an organic Rankine Cycle demonstration. 2005: Wizard Power Pty Ltd is established to commercialise the ANU Big Dish and ammonia based energy storage technologies. Wizard Power has a world wide exclusive licence to the technology. Wizard Power (www.wizardpower.com.au ) is a sister company of Wizard Information Systems. March 2004: The ANU 400m2 dish is featured on the 2004 / 2005 Canberra region White Pages Telephone directory cover. The figure shows Geoff Major walking across the mirror surface while the dish is parked horizontally. Canberra’s Black Mountain Tower is in the back ground. (Note The Caption in the inside cover of the book incorporates some “artistic” licence from the PR company. The dish is the largest Paraboloidal Dish solar concentrator, not the “largest” concentrator in general, there are a number of Central Receiver concentrator systems which are considerably bigger). The dish actually makes steam at 600oC and whilst a high precision dish could reach 3000oC, this one would only reach somewhere in the region of 1500oC. The dish was originally developed within the old Energy Research Centre at ANU, the activities now continue in the Centre for Sustainable Energy Systems within the Faculty of Engineeing and Information Technology) 19 November 2002: First run of the 400m2 dish after recommissioning. The 400m2 dish has been mothballed for two years and is currently in the process of being recommissioned. The team, from left to right, Geoff major, Felix Hofer, Keith Lovegrove, Tui Toemafulou, Greg Burgess, Louis Siangsukone, Wie Joe. May 2002: Full 24 hour operation of ammonia closed loop. The 15kWsol closed loop demonstration was operated for the first time through a full 24 hour cycle. The system was charged via solar operation and then the synthesis reactor was operated continuously providing heat recovery for the remainder of the 24 hour period.   March 2000: Solar Thermal Group hosts delegates from the SolarPACES International Symposium on Solar Thermal Concentrating Techologies, for a site visit and barbecue. Dec 1999 15kWsol solar ammonia dissociation closed loop system operated for the first time.(Back row; Peter Kasper, Allan Andrews, Keith Lovegrove, front: Greg Burgess, Andreas Luzzi, Holger Kreetz) Sept 1998 1kWchem solar ammonia dissociation closed loop operated for the first time – a world first! (from left to right; Keith Lovegrove, Allan Andrews, Luzius Wirth, Franz Saladin, sitting; Holger Kreetz and Andreas Luzzi)