Concentrated Solar Power

Concentrated Solar Power (or”CSP”) refers to the type of solar energy which is made by concentrating sunlight onto a small area, thus making intense light and heat, which in turn generates power and electricity. Concentrated Solar Power is one of several alternative energy technologies which have been developed in order to harness the energy emitted by the sun and turn it into useable electricity.

The main difference between concentrated solar power (CSP) energy systems and other solar power systems (such as photovoltaics and solar heating), is that concentrated solar power uses mirrors and reflectors in order to focus concentrated sunlight on a specific place.

How Concentrated Solar Power Systems Work

A simple but accurate comparison to Concentrated Solar Power is the use of a magnifying lens to focus sunlight on a specific area. But the target of a CSP system is to heat fluids, not ants or other luckless insects.

The fluids heated by this concentrated solar energy are then turned into steam. The steam is in turn forced through a fan, and is used to drive a fixed steam turbine, which uses its turning motion to generate electricity through electromagnetic means.

One advantage of concentrated solar power is that it is absolutely compatible with the contemporary power generators which are used in conventional power plants. But in the case of CSP solar energy, the “fuel” used to generate steam is sunlight, not fossil fuels such as oil and coal.

You may be bowled over to learn that in the USA, several CSP power plants are already up and running – and that they have performed reliably for the past fifteen years.

At the time of this writing, the least expensive method of using solar power to yield electricity is the to use concentrated solar power systems.

Research and development projects are underway, with the aim of reducing expenditure even further, so that the cost of producing electricity with solar power can eventually compete with the expenditure of energy manufacture in modern conventional power plants.

Concentrated Solar Power is one of several methods of generating solar power and alternative energy on a broad scale. Another example of broad scale solar power manufacture is the use of solar power towers. These towers use an collection of moving mirrors (called heliostats) to endlessly reflect sunlight toward a inner area at the top of the tower. These heliostats are set up so that they follow the movement of the sun, thus maintaining the strongest reflecting power possible.