Uzbekistan Has a Giant Solar Furnace: Inside Parkent's Soviet Science Monument
· 9 min read · Hidden Uzbekistan
An hour from Tashkent, thousands of mirrors focus sunlight onto a concrete tower at temperatures above 3,000°C. It looks like science fiction, but it is a working laboratory — and one of Uzbekistan's strangest day trips.
Most visitors leave Tashkent for blue domes or mountain lakes. Almost nobody turns toward Parkent, where a huge concave wall of mirrors rises from the foothills. This is the Big Solar Furnace of the Academy of Sciences of Uzbekistan, one of only two large installations of its class in the world. Built in the Soviet period and still used for materials research, it is the country's most cinematic piece of scientific architecture.
What the Parkent Solar Furnace actually is
A field of sun-tracking mirrors, called heliostats, reflects sunlight toward a giant curved concentrator made from thousands of mirror facets. That concentrator focuses the energy onto a small target in the laboratory tower. The focused beam can create temperatures above 3,000°C without fuel, allowing researchers to test ceramics and other materials in unusually clean high-temperature conditions.
Why the Soviet Union built it in Uzbekistan
The site was chosen for intense sunshine, clear air, altitude and a mountainside geometry that let engineers place the heliostat field opposite the concentrator. Construction began in the late Soviet era and the complex entered operation in the 1980s. France's Odeillo furnace is the other famous large example; Parkent remains the less visited and more surreal one.
Can travellers visit in 2026?
Visits are possible, but this is a research institute rather than a walk-in museum. Access conditions and demonstration schedules change. Arrange permission through a local operator or contact the institute before travelling; do not assume the gate will admit an unannounced visitor. A guided visit commonly explains the control room, heliostat field and focus tower, though active laboratory areas may be closed.
Getting there from Tashkent
- The complex is near Parkent, roughly 45–60 km east of central Tashkent.
- A hired car or organised day tour is the reliable option; public transport does not deliver visitors cleanly to the institute gate.
- Combine it with vineyards around Parkent or a mountain stop toward Chimgan, but confirm opening times first.
- Carry your passport because the site is an operating state research facility.
Photography and eye safety
Photograph only where staff permit it. Never stare toward the concentrated beam or use binoculars aimed at bright reflected light; follow every instruction during a demonstration. Drone rules in Uzbekistan are restrictive and an industrial research site is not the place to improvise a flight.
Honest verdict
Parkent is not a polished attraction with hourly tickets and a gift shop. That is precisely why it is memorable. For architecture, engineering or Soviet-history travellers, it is one of the best unusual excursions from Tashkent — provided you organise access rather than simply turning up.
Also known as: Parkent Solar Furnace, Big Solar Furnace Uzbekistan, Institute of Solar Materials Science, солнечная печь Паркент, Большая солнечная печь Узбекистан, Quyosh pechi Parkent, 乌兹别克斯坦太阳炉, ウズベキスタン太陽炉.