What is Concentrated Solar Power?
Michael Anissimov
Michael Anissimov
Concentrated solar power, also called solar thermal, is a means of gathering solar energy distinct from the use of photovoltaic (PV) panels. Instead of directly converting solar energy to electricity, as in PV panels, concentrated solar power concentrates sunlight onto a relatively small point, which heats a medium. The heat from the medium is then either transferred directly to the target to be heated, such as a swimming pool, or connected to a generator for producing electric power.
Unlike commercial PV panels, which have an efficiency of about 17-19%, concentrated solar power efficiency ranges from 40-60%. There are three types of concentrated solar power devices -- low temperature devices (used to heat pools), medium-temperature devices (used to heat water for commercial or residential use), and high-temperature devices (used to generate electricity).
Concentrated solar power is cheaper than solar panels, as it primarily consists of mirrors to concentrate the sun's rays, rather than photovoltaics, an electronic system which requires high-purity silicon to produce. Both must regularly be cleaned, or they loose their energy-generating power.
In recent years, several large-scale concentrated solar power plants have been built. SEGS (Solar Energy Generating Systems), a solar thermal plant run by the Israeli company Solel, covers 1000 acres. The largest solar power plant of any kind, this plant produces 90% of all commercially available solar power -- 354 megawatts, about 1/6th of a major nuclear power plant, and about 1.5% of the Three Gorges Dam, the world's largest power plant of any kind. At the Solel plant, mirrors concentrate solar power onto tubes filled with oil, which are heated to generate electricity.
In 2006, about 21 million square feet of concentrated solar power systems were built in the United States, 16 million of it the low-temperature variety used to cheaply heat swimming pools. These use either warm water or air as a medium to transfer heat.
The term "concentrated solar power" is most often associated with high-temperature solar thermal collectors, such as those used in the Solel plant. These use steam or gas turbines to generate electricity from superheated fluid.
Michael Anissimov
Michael is a longtime TheSolarPanelGuide contributor who specializes in topics relating to paleontology, physics, biology, astronomy, chemistry, and futurism. In addition to being an avid blogger, Michael is particularly passionate about stem cell research, regenerative medicine, and life extension therapies. He has also worked for the Methuselah Foundation, the Singularity Institute for Artificial Intelligence, and the Lifeboat Foundation.
Michael Anissimov
Michael is a longtime TheSolarPanelGuide contributor who specializes in topics relating to paleontology, physics, biology, astronomy, chemistry, and futurism. In addition to being an avid blogger, Michael is particularly passionate about stem cell research, regenerative medicine, and life extension therapies. He has also worked for the Methuselah Foundation, the Singularity Institute for Artificial Intelligence, and the Lifeboat Foundation.
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![A closeup of a solar panel.]()
By: SergiogenA closeup of a solar panel. -
![Concentrated solar power, also called solar thermal, is a means of gathering solar energy without photovoltaic (PV) panels.]()
By: jcg_oidaConcentrated solar power, also called solar thermal, is a means of gathering solar energy without photovoltaic (PV) panels. -
![Solar photovoltaic power supplies often require the installation of switch disconnectors, or isolators.]()
By: gandolfSolar photovoltaic power supplies often require the installation of switch disconnectors, or isolators.
Discussion Comments
@clintflint - Concentrated solar power can be used on every house and it is a shame that it isn't at the moment. Home solar power wouldn't solve every need for electricity but it would go a good way towards it. Every home that has a roof has free power showering on them all day every day and they simply don't take advantage of that.
@pastanaga - The obvious problem with that is transporting the materials needed to build and maintain the solar collector into an area where there is no infrastructure and then transporting the power back out to urban areas.
Concentrated solar power is quite expensive to collect because the plant needs constant cleaning to maintain optimum efficiency. It's usually a huge contraption made from glass and mirrors and the dirtier they get, the less sunshine they can collect.
If you put something like that out in the middle of the desert it's going to get dirty very quickly. I'm not sure we're at the point where it's worth it financially to invest in such a huge project with so many ongoing costs. There are cheaper, more efficient ways to power the world.
There is so much potential for these kinds of power plants. The best thing about them from an environmental point of view is that they work best when situated in the desert. That's where the solar heat is most constant. But it's also more likely to be an area where there isn't much else to be disturbed.
Wind farms and hydro-electric power plants almost always run into the problem that building them disrupts either people or the environment or both. But there are huge tracts of desert out there on which we could build concentrated solar plants without disrupting anyone.
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