PROMES is a Research Unit of CNRS (UPR 8521) belonging to the Institute for Engineering and Systems Sciences ( (INSIS) under contract with the University of Perpignan (UPVD). The laboratory is located in three sites: Odeillo-Font Romeu (concentrating solar facilities) and Perpignan, sites of Tecnosud and UPVD campus. CNRS and UPVD have created the IN’SOL Unit devoted to solar innovations that is supported by PROMES in Tecnosud. PROMES is the leader of the laboratory of excellence SOLSTICE (Solar Energy: Science, Technology and Innovation for Energy Conversion).

Gilles Flamant and Françoise Bataille are respectively Director and Deputy Director of PROMES. The laboratory staff is composed of 150 persons from CNRS and UPVD working together on a common subject, solar energy development on all levels. PROMES is then naturally a founding member of the CNRS research federation on solar energy, FédéSol.

PROMES is organized in 7 research groups and 5 departments. The main research fields are “materials under extreme conditions” and “conversion, storage and transport of solar energy”.

One of the original missions of PROMES is to develop researches with the large scale concentrating facilities of CNRS in Font Romeu (particularly solar furnaces) and of “Pyrénées Orientales” Council in Targasonne (Themis central receiver plant). These researches may be carried up to the demonstrator level as done for the PEGASE project. Moreover, the laboratory is in charge of the development of the National Platform on concentrated solar energy thanks to the “equipment of excellence” SOCRATE project (Concentrated solar energy, advanced researches and energy technologies). It is also very active in the management of the DERBI competitiveness cluster.

Access to the PROMES unique facilities for the European research community is open thanks to the European project SFERA. More generally, the laboratory is strongly connected to the European research thanks to SOLLAB and projects such as SOLHYCARB.

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