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Solar Electricity - Photovoltaics & Concentrated Solar Power

The sun is the world’s primary source of energy, and solar power systems can harness the sun’s rays as a hightemperature, clean energy source for heat or electricity.

But to produce electricity, the solar power has to be concentrated or focused. This is because solar radiation reaches the earth’s surface with a density that is adequate for heating but not for an efficient thermodynamic cycle for producing electricity.

There are different types of concentrating solar power (CSP) technologies/systems:

  • Parabolic solar collectors or curved ‘troughs’ enable the sun’s rays to converge towards a single point to collect heat from the sun.
  • Solar tower power plants involve hundreds or even thousands of mirrors following the sun’s path and concentrating its rays onto a receiver at the top of a tower.
  • Solar dish/engine systems see parabolic dishes transfer solar radiation to a ‘Stirling engine’ – an engine using heat to act on a fluid.
  • The sun’s rays can also be used to activate chemical reactions to produce fuels and chemicals. In the medium- to long-term, other applications will include environmentally-friendly technologies.

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