CSP: Focusing the Sun on One Spot Concentrated Solar Power
Concentrated Solar Power or CSP is an innovative technology to utilize solar energy to produce power. CSP systems differ from traditional photovoltaic (PV) solar panels in that they utilize mirrors to reflect and focus sunlight onto a receiver, heating up a fluid to very high temperatures. A turbine-generator system then converts this thermal energy or heat into electricity.
How CSP Systems Work-Concentrated Solar Power
Solar FieldA massive grid of mirrors, or helio stats, track the sun as it moves across the sky and bounce sunlight on to a receiver at the base.
Receptor: It is at the top of a tower and captures solar energy after it has been concentrated, raising a fluid (usually molten salt) to very high temperatures.
The high-temperature fluid is utilized to spin a turbine, which then drives an electrical generator to create electricity.
Thermal energy storage: The majority of existing CSP plants have built-in thermal energy storage (e.g. molten salt tanks) to store surplus heat energy. This energy is stored in order to be used to generate electricity when there is no solar radiation or low (i.e. a cloudy day or at night).
Types of CSP Technologies Concentrated Solar Power
Power Tower**: The most common CSP system, a Power Tower consists of a tall tower with a receiver at the top. A tower with heliostats around it that direct sunlight onto a receiver.
Parabolic Trough: This system utilizes parabolic mirrors to focus sunlight onto a receiver tube located at the focal line of the trough. The receiver tube through which the heated fluid flows.
Modular solar thermal plants* Dish-Stirling — These use dish-shaped mirrors to focus sunlight on a small receiver at the focal point. The heat energy is transferred to a Stirling engine in which it converts this heat energy into mechanical energy driving a generator.
Advantages of CSP
Excellent Efficiency:** Compared to PV systems, CSP systems can produce a greater amount of electricity because they have high thermal efficiencies.
Investment in *Energy Storage: Solar thermal energy storage
Challenges and Future Outlook
CSP shows great promise, but there are multiple challenges — cost and land use concerns coupled with reliance on sunlight, to name a few. Nevertheless, CSP growth is encouraged by continuous technology development and subsequently growing investment trends.
CSP technologies will become critical to meeting world energy demand as a transition begins toward lowcarbon energy systems. CSP is related to sustainable & clean energy based on its unique usage of power of sun.
These are at a concentrated solar power plant
Would you like to dive deeper into what CSP technologies will mean for areas like their economics, environmental impacts and future potential?