Tashkent's Solar Furnace Discovery Tour

In the foothills of the Tien Shan, near the town of Parkent, stands one of Uzbekistan's most unusual sights: a huge curved wall of mirrors facing a field of smaller mirrors on the hillside. This is the Big Solar Furnace, built in the late Soviet period to study materials at extreme temperatures. It makes an easy and unusual day trip from Tashkent for anyone curious about science, engineering or Soviet history.

Key facts

• Where: near Parkent in the Tashkent region, about 55 km from Tashkent (around 1 hour 20 minutes by car, according to our tour data).
• What it is: a solar furnace with a thermal power of about 1 megawatt, run by the Institute of Materials Science ("Physics–Sun"), which entered service in 1987.
• Altitude: about 1,100 m, in the foothills of the Tien Shan mountains.
• Time needed: a full day from Tashkent; the visit on site takes about three hours.
• Good for: science and engineering fans, photographers, families with older children, travellers interested in the Soviet era.
• Fitness: the observation level at the top is reached by an outside staircase; the rest of the visit is easy walking.
• Book with: see the Solar Furnace Discovery Tour page or contact us; prices depend on group size and season.

How the solar furnace works

The idea is simple: collect sunlight from a large area and focus it on a very small one. On the hillside in front of the main building stands a field of 62 flat mirrors called heliostats. They turn automatically to follow the sun and send its light onto the giant curved concentrator — the wall of mirrors you see in every photo. The concentrator focuses the light onto a small spot in the technological tower opposite it, where temperatures of up to about 3,000 °C can be reached.

Because the heat comes only from sunlight, there is no fuel and no smoke in the material being tested. That makes it useful for testing and producing materials that have to survive extreme heat, for example in spacecraft or nuclear reactors.

A short history

Construction began in 1981, and the furnace entered service as an experimental and industrial facility in 1987. It belongs to the Institute of Materials Science of the Academy of Sciences of Uzbekistan, part of the Physics–Sun research association. Together with the furnace at Odeillo in the French Pyrenees, it is one of the largest solar furnaces in the world, and it is still used for research today.

What you see on a visit

Our tour programme includes:

• The heliostat field with its 62 mirrors, laid out on the slope.
• The solar museum, which explains the history of the furnace and the science behind it.
• The hydrometeorological station that measures the conditions the furnace depends on.
• The concentrator, where, on days when experiments are running, you may watch materials being melted by concentrated sunlight.
• The upper area of the furnace, with a view over the mountains and the valley.

Melting demonstrations do not take place every day: according to our tour data, they do not happen at weekends or on some weekdays, so ask us when you plan your date. After the visit there is free time to enjoy the mountain air before you drive back to Tashkent.

Practical tips

• Choose a clear, sunny day: the mirrors only work in direct sun, and the view is better too.
• Plan the trip on a weekday if you hope to see a melting demonstration, and check with us beforehand.
• Bring sunglasses — the mirrors reflect strong light.
• Wear comfortable shoes; the climb to the top is on an outside staircase of many floors.
• Take a warm layer in spring and autumn: at 1,100 m it is cooler than in Tashkent.
• The trip combines well with a mountain day: the Chimgan and Charvak area is in the same part of the Tashkent region.

Plan it with TravelBliss

We arrange the day from your hotel in Tashkent: guide and driver, the drive to Parkent, the visit to the furnace and the return. See the Tashkent's Solar Furnace Discovery Tour page for the programme. If you have more days in the capital, add the Modern Tashkent city tour or a day in the mountains with our Tashkent Mountain Tour. Prices depend on the number of travellers and the season — contact us for a quote.