Concentrated Solar Power Efficiency

Coggin fulfilling the promise of concentrating solar power center for american progress june 2013.

Concentrated solar power efficiency.

With an installed capacity of 510 mw it is the largest concentrated solar power pant of the whole world. 13 4 csp and cpv may have a broader future compared with previous semiconductor based cells as the advantages. Concentrated solar power efficiency. Concentrated solar power csp also known as concentrating solar power concentrated solar thermal systems generate solar power by using mirrors or lenses to concentrate a large area of sunlight onto a receiver.

Concentrated solar power or photovoltaic. On cloudy days or overnight to generate electric power. Csp technologies can be used to generate electricity by converting energy from sunlight to power a turbine but it can also be used as heat in a variety of industrial applications like water desalination enhanced oil. Most csp technologies will have an efficiency somewhere between 7 and 25 percent.

To further exacerbate the concentrated cooling design the heat sink must be passive otherwise the power required for active cooling will reduce the overall conversion efficiency and economy. Csp vs pv energy storage and efficiency csp systems are capable of storing energy by use of thermal energy storage technologies tes and using it at times of low or no sunlight e g. Concentrating solar power plants can integrate thermal energy. This capability increases the penetration of solar.

National renewable energy laboratory nrel tp 5500 52134 august 2011. Glatzmaier summary report for concentrating solar power thermal storage workshop u s. The solar to electricity efficiency of a csp system depends on many factors including the type of csp system the receiver and the engine. The terminology concentrated solar power or concentrating solar power is used because a large area of reflected sunlight is concentrated through mirrors and lenses onto a small area to.

The solar energy technologies office seto supports research and development of concentrating solar thermal power csp technologies that reduce the cost of solar energy. Citation needed multi junction solar cells are currently favored over single junction cells as they are more efficient and have a lower temperature. Electricity is generated when the concentrated light is converted to heat solar thermal energy which drives a heat engine usually a steam turbine connected to an electrical power. The heat can then be used to create steam to drive a turbine to produce electrical power or used as industrial process heat.