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German Aerospace Center (DLR) is currently constructing a new high-flux solar simulator synlight which shall be commissioned in late 2016. The new facility will provide three separately operated experimental spaces with expected radiant powers of about 300kW / 240kW / 240kW respectively. synlight was presented to the public for the first time at SolarPACES 2015 [1]. Its engineering and erection is running according to plan. The current presentation reports about the engineering and the ongoing erection of the novel facility, and gives an outlook on its new level of possibilities for solar testing and qualification. * Predicted values. Values in brackets () exceed the current standard and can be realised with additional effort.

Polyimide and polytetrafluoroethylene (PTFE) films were examined as alternative materials in heat exchangers in respect of their mechanical behavior at temperatures of up to 90°C and in contact with water, toluene and hexane. It was shown that the PTFE films have a sufficient durability and can be successfully used with these organic liquids. Furthermore, a hydrodynamically optimized prototype of a heat exchanger was designed based on CFD studies coupled with FEM analysis considering geometry deformations of the films caused by pressure loss.

As of now the worldwide solar research community has a unique new tool: Synlight is a high-flux solar simulator of a new performance category. It bridges the gap between laboratory scale tests and demonstration, and offers large-scale testing opportunities for up to three independently operating test campaigns. Following the commissioning and opening in March, 2017, the facility has been validated recently. The gained results met or exceeded the expectations from simulation and prototype. In particular, solar radiation powers of up to 310kW with a simultaneous peak flux of 12.5MW/m² could be measured.

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