Concentrated solar power

Use of mirrors or lenses to heat a fluid for electricity generation

Concentrated solar power (CSP), also called concentrating solar power or concentrated solar thermal, involves systems that collect solar heat for multiple purposes like cooking, desalination, or the generation of electric solar power, by using mirrors to concentrate a large area of sunlight toward a receiver. Electricity is generated when the concentrated light is converted to heat (solar thermal energy), which drives a heat engine, either Stirling engine or a steam turbine as in fossil thermal power stations, via an electrical power generator, or powers a thermochemical reaction. In combination with thermal energy storage, concentrated solar power can produce electricity also during the night, to compete against the combination of battery energy storage systems fed by photovoltaics, the predominant solar power technology, with about 1 terawatt of global installed nameplate capacity in 2022.

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