Free Solar Pro - Concentrating Solar Energy

Concentrated Solar

Focusing the Sun's Rays to increase the amount of Energy produced

Have you ever used a magnifying glass to direct a beam on the ground and, say, start a small fire?

Concentrated solar is used the same way. Legend has it that Archimedes used polished shields to focus light on the Roman fleet and turned them away from Syracuse.

Later, a parabolic trough was used to create the first solar steam engine. Since then, this science has been used to improve technology in irrigation, refrigeration and locomotion.

Concentrating Solar Power, or CSP systems use lenses or mirrors to focus and track the sunlight into a small beam of light. The heat created is then used to heat up a liquid, which, in turn, controls a turbine or other moving part to generate electricity.

The most developed technologies in this field include: a solar trough, a parabolic dish and a solar power tower. The methods may vary in the way they focus the light, but they all use the same basic concept-to heat a liquid to create steam and thus drive the components that generate electricity.

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