Concentrating Solar Energy Systems

As the name imply, concentrating solar energy systems concentrate the power of the sun to produce energy in a usable form.

If you’ve ever used a magnifying glass to burn a hole in a piece of paper, you’ve witness the effect of concentrated solar power on a small scale.

Commercial solar concentrating systems use mirrors to reflect sun light onto a focused receiver. This generates intense heat that can be used to create steam to drive generators to produce electricity There are three main types of solar concentrating systems in use today. I explain a little about each on their respective pages.

Linear Concentrator Systems

Dish and Engine Solar Systems

Power Tower Systems

Any solar system has the problem of generating power when the sun isn’t shining.

As you’ll see, engineers working on concentrating solar energy systems have developed ingenious thermal storage systems that allow these plants to produce power even at night.

Links

Click here to return to Solar Energy

Click here to go to Alternative Energy Primer Home from Concentrating Solar Energy Systems