Concentrated Solar Power

CSP stands for Concentrated Solar Power. Concentrated Solar Power is one of the technologies developed in order to harness solar energy emitted by the sun and turn it into useable electricity.

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

A simple but accurate comparison to CSP solar energy is the use of a magnifying lens to focus sunlight. But the target of a CSP system is to heat fluids, not ants or other luckless insects.

The fluids heated by concentrated solar energy are then turned into steam. This steam is in turn used to drive a regular steam turbine, which generates electricity.

One of the advantages of concentrated solar power is that it is completely compatible with the contemporary power generators which are used in conventional power plants. But in this case, the "fuel" used to generate steam is sunlight, not oil or coal.

You may be surprised to learn that in the United States, several CSP power plants are already up and running, and they have performed reliably for the last 15 years.

At the time of this writing, the least expensive method of producing electricity through solar energy is the use of concentrated solar power systems.

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

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(Photo Credit: Sandia National Laboratories)