What is concentrating solar power & how does it work?

Learn the basics about concentrating solar power and how this technology generates energy. What is concentrating solar-thermal power (CSP) technology and how does it work? CSP technologies use mirrors to reflect and concentrate sunlight onto a receiver. The energy from the concentrated sunlight heats a high temperature fluid in the receiver.

What is concentrating solar energy (CSP)?

In solar thermal energy, all concentrating solar power (CSP) technologies use solar thermal energy from sunlight to make power. A solar field of mirrors concentrates the sun’s energy onto a receiver that traps the heat and stores it in thermal energy storage till needed to create steam to drive a turbine to produce electrical power.

How do power tower concentrating solar power systems work?

In power tower concentrating solar power systems, a large number of flat, sun-tracking mirrors, known as heliostats, focus sunlight onto a receiver at the top of a tall tower. A heat-transfer fluid heated in the receiver is used to heat a working fluid, which, in turn, is used in a conventional turbine generator to produce electricity.

How do concentrating solar collectors work?

Concentrating solar collectors use mirrors and lenses to con-centrate and focus sunlight onto a thermal receiver, similar to a boiler tube. The receiver absorbs and converts sun-light into heat. The heat is then transported to a steam generator or engine where it is converted into electricity.

What is Gemasolar concentrating solar-thermal power?

Gemasolar, previously known as Solar Tres, produces nearly 20 megawatts of electricity and utilizes molten-salt thermal storage. Learn more about the basics of concentrating solar-thermal power and the solar office's concentrating solar-thermal power research.

What is a central receiver concentrating solar power plant?

This overview will focus on the central receiver, or “power tower” concentrating solar power plant design, in which a field of mirrors - heliostats, track the sun throughout the day and year to reflect solar energy to a receiver that absorbs solar radiation as thermal energy.