A Guide to Concentrating Solar Power
CSP plants concentrate solar radiation by using mirrors or lenses to heat up a
fluid, which drives a turbine, converting heat into mechanical energy and then
into electrical power
Solar heat has been harnessed as an energy source for a long time. The first
concentrating solar systems, using dishes, were built as early as 1878, in France.
Concentrating solar rays is necessary in order to raise temperature.
Higher temperatures increase the efficiency of the conversion of heat into
mechanical motion and then electricity.
Although the source of the heat is different, CSP uses the same conversion
processes as conventional fossil-fuel power plants – the conversion of
thermal energy into mechanical energy (turbine), and of mechanical energy into
electrical energy (generator).
2 main methods of capturing energy from the sun
Heat:
Irradiative solar energy is easily transformed into heat through absorption by
gases, liquids or solid materials.
Photoreaction:
Solar radiation can be viewed as a flux of elementary
particles that can promote photoreactions and generate a flow of electrons.
CSP depends on direct-beam irradiation and its maximum benefits are restricted
to arid & semi-arid areas like the Middle East & North Africa, Australia, South
Africa, as well as areas in the US, Chile, Spain, India & Gobi Desert.
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