Concentrated Solar Power Panels

The solar energy technologies office seto supports research and development of concentrating solar thermal power csp technologies that reduce the cost of solar energy.

Concentrated solar power panels.

Csp vs pv technologies. Concentrated solar thermal cst is a solar energy technology that uses sunlight to generate heat. Concentrated solar thermal systems csp are not the same as photovoltaic panels. Here in we review basic solar energy facts of competing solar technologies csp vs pv.

Csp systems concentrate radiation of the sun to heat a liquid substance which is then used to drive a heat engine and drive an electric generator. Electricity is generated when the concentrated light is converted to heat solar thermal energy which drives a heat engine usually a steam turbine connected to an electrical power. Concentrating solar power csp technologies. Concentrated solar power csp also known as concentrating solar power concentrated solar thermal systems generate solar power by using mirrors or lenses to concentrate a large area of sunlight onto a receiver.

For residential and commercial property owners solar photovoltaic panels are the best way to harness the sun s energy for use. Concentrating solar power csp technologies use mirrors to concentrate focus the sun s light energy and convert it into heat to create steam to drive a turbine that generates electrical power. The thermal energy concentrated in a csp plant can be stored and used to produce electricity when it is needed day or night. What is concentrated solar thermal.

Csp technology utilizes focused sunlight. Csp plants generate electric power by using mirrors to. Spain is the world leader in the use of cst to produce electricity with around 2 3 gw in operation followed by the united states with around 1 7 gw in operation. Generally concentrated solar power is not installed at a residential scale and instead will almost always be installed over a large area as a utility scale generating facility.