Solar Thermal Power Generation

This article introduces the solar thermal electricity, also known as concentrating solar power (CSP), a technology that produces electricity by using a line or point focusing concentrating collectors to concentrate direct-beam solar irradiance to heat a liquid, solid or gas that is then used in a downstream process for electricity generation. It then explains the fundamentals of the main CSP technologies to convert solar energy resources into electricity and the technologies used for solar thermal energy storage. The generation of bulk solar thermal electricity from CSP systems is one of the technologies best suited to mitigating climate change in an affordable way by reducing the consumption of fossil fuels. CSP systems can operate either by storing heat or in combination with fossil fuel power plants, providing firm and dispatchable power available at the request of power grid operators, especially when demand peaks in the late afternoon, in the evening or early morning, or even when the sun isn’t shining. In order to increase higher penetration of intermittent renewable power (mainly wind and solar photovoltaic) on the transmission network solar thermal electricity can successfully address the challenges of grid integration, power quality, and scheduling and forecasting as conventional thermal electricity