Full Title: Renewable Energy Technologies: Cost Analysis Series: Concentrating Solar Power
Author(s): International Renewable Energy Agency
Publisher(s): International Renewable Energy Agency
Publication Date: June 1, 2012
Full Text: Download Resource
Description (excerpt):
Concentrating solar power (CSP) is a power generation technology that uses mirrors or lenses to concentrate the sun’s rays and, in most of today’s CSP systems, to heat a fluid and produce steam. The steam drives a turbine and generates power in the same way as conventional power plants. Other concepts are being explored and not all future CSP plants will necessarily use a steam cycle.
The innovative aspect of CSP is that it captures and concentrates the sun’s energy to provide the heat required to generate electricity, rather than using fossil fuels or nuclear reactions. Another attribute of CSP plants is that they can be equipped with a heat storage system in order to generate electricity even when the sky is cloudy or after sunset. This significantly increases the CSP capacity factor compared with solar photovoltaics and, more importantly, enables the production of dispatchable electricity, which can facilitate both grid integration and economic competitiveness