A lot of people are unaware how solar power works, and why it is a good option for many households.
Concentrated solar power is a type of solar energy that has been around since the 1970s.
It uses mirrors to concentrate light on one point to generate heat levels high enough to power steam turbines or other equipment.
This article will explain what concentrated solar power is and how it can be used in your home today!
Table of Contents
- What is concentrated solar power?
- How does CSP work?
- Why should we use CSP.
- The future of CSP and challenges to overcome.
- 5 Benefits of using CSP
- Applications for concentrated solar power
- Conclusion
What is concentrated solar power?
concentrated solar power (CSP) is the process of concentrating up to 2,000 times the energy of a broad area on a smaller point or location, using reflectors and mirrors.
The CSP technology uses the sun’s energy in a different way.
It does not use photovoltaic (PV) cells, which convert sunlight directly into electricity, or concentrate sunlight directly to make steam for generating electricity.
Instead it uses solar thermal energy, which is the sun’s radiant heat or energy that comes through the sunlight, to create steam.
The steam then expands and rotates a turbine to produce electricity.
CSP is different from photo-voltaics (PV) because it stores thermal energy instead of chemical energy in order to generate electricity.
The thermal storage can be at high temperature – up to 600° Celsius / 1,100° Fahrenheit – or it can store the heat over a long period of time, which saves on fuel costs.
This technology is still in development for commercial use and needs further research before it becomes mainstream anywhere around the world.
However despite its infancy there are many countries already implementing these CSP solutions including: Spain, Chile, United Arab Emirates, Australia and Israel, among others.
The image below shows how concentrated solar power works: The sun’s rays reflect through the mirrors onto a tower, which contains water in its base.
This heats the water and turns it to steam.
The steam then spins a turbine that produces electricity for homes, industries or other utilities.
Example of CSP
world’s largest solar plant Abu Dhabi, UAE
the world’s largest CSP project is located at Shams 1 in Abu Dhabi and has an operational capacity of 100MW of power with plans to ultimately expand to 500MW of energy by 2030.
It is built on 370 hectares (917 acres) and is located some 150 kilometres southwest of the UAE capital.
This project contains a power tower that is 110 metres (360 feet) tall, which reflects sunlight on to solar pipes and receivers containing water in its base.
The concentrated light heats the water up to 705° Celsius / 1,301° Fahrenheit. It then produces super-heated steam for the turbines.
The first phase of Shams 1 was completed in December 2013 with 10 hours of full load testing being undertaken followed by 65 operating hours sustained at 28MW capacity over a three month period.
This was followed by an uninterrupted 4500 hours of operation until April 2015 when it experienced a short outtage due to one of the collector field transformers breaking down, which took a week to repair.
During the same year, a new milestone was set when the plant produced more than one million megawatt-hours of clean energy as part of an agreement with DEWA (Abu Dhabi’s state utility company)
Breaking the record for solar power generation in Abu Dhabi.
The location is perfect for this project due to its close proximity to abundant solar resource and low cost of production from its natural gas resources.
It also has some of the world’s best engineers working on it and well developed infrastructure nearby.
How does CSP work?
concentrated solar power works by sending the sun’s energy to a central tower, which is surrounded by mirrors that reflect and concentrate the light onto a receiver on top of the tower.
This heats a fluid inside, turning it to steam and producing electricity as a by-product. It is also known as concentrating solar-thermal power, which works by reflecting sunlight onto a central tower.
It first came to life in 1984 when Dr. Daniel M. Nocera, a scientist from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), developed it while working at Exxon Research and Engineering Company.
It is made up of photovoltaic (PV) solar panels and tracking devices that move throughout the day to track the sun’s path for maximum efficiency.
The sunlight reflects off a series of mirrors onto the receiver, which sits on top of a tower to capture and focus the sun’s energy.
The concentrated light heats a fluid inside, which is then used to spin turbines and produce electricity.
CSP can store the heat over a long period of time, which saves on fuel costs.
However the main disadvantage to this type of solar energy is that it requires direct sunlight; otherwise there would not be enough intensity or accuracy from the mirrors that reflect onto the receiver tower to create sufficient steam pressure for power generation purposes.
Another setback with this form of renewable energy is that water vapor in the air can reduce its efficiency
(it does not function when atmospheric humidity is high) and it requires plenty of land – around 500 hectares per megawatt capacity – making it impractical to use in cities due to limited space availability.
Why should we use CSP.
In a bid to lessen our reliance on fossil fuel sources and meet the 2015 Paris Agreement for curbing carbon emissions, we need to increase our use of renewable energy.
Despite the fact that it only provides around eight percent of total global electricity, it is the fastest growing source and rated as one of the most viable low-carbon energy options available.
The best thing about CSP is that it can be used in conjunction with PV solar panels to provide a reliable, uninterrupted supply of energy from the sun.
It is even possible to use it during the night time, which means that we can decrease our dependency on fossil fuels.
CSP would be particularly useful in parts of the world where there is a high amount of sunlight and it will have particular appeal to countries that rely on diesel generators for their electricity needs.
It is affordable and does not require a lot of land or water use, making it ideal for Saudi Arabia (which has the necessary sun exposure needed to make it work).
The future of CSP and challenges to overcome.
The future of CSP are bright
it will be a significant part of the energy mix for Saudi Arabia and other Gulf Cooperation Council states.
The key to its success is in finding a way to store the heat energy for periods of non-sunlight, which will undoubetdly be one of the big challenges that need to be overcome.
However, as the cost of solar panels continue to reduce and the production of electricity using CSP becomes more efficient and economies of scale kick in, we could be looking at a big shift towards the adoption of solar energy over reliance on fossil fuels.
Challenges to overcome of CSP are as follow.
o The requirement for considerable areas of land is a major disadvantage as it will be difficult to optimally site power stations in urban areas.
o Water requirements for cooling may prove to be a challenge, as the operation of CSP plants requires cooling towers.
o The need for a large number of concentrate solar power plants in order to supply significant electricity demand if the energy is derivered directly from the sun.
This is because one plant alone will not be able to meet total urban and industrial consumption requirements that are usually concentrated in time periods during the day or night.
Different types of generation will therefore be required on a large scale, including biomass, hydroelectricity and nuclear power stations.
5 Benefits of using CSP
1. CSP reduces carbon emissions
Fossil fuels such as coal are not needed to generate the power and this helps to reduce carbon emissions.
2. It provides a clean energy source
This renewable energy method is environmentally friendly and does not contaminate water or air.
3. No toxic by-products are released into the environment during its operation
CSP uses mirrors to collect sunlight and convert it directly into electricity, meaning that no carbon emissions are produced as CO2 is emitted when fossil fuels such as coal are burnt.
4. Cleaner technology can be implemented in tandem with CSP
Although it will have some environmental impact due to the need for cooling towers, other forms of generation could be used (such as solar PV panels) alongside CSP to reduce overall carbon emissions even further by providing additional clean power sources.
This means that combined wind and solar generators do not need to be used, as is the case with wind farms.
5. It will reduce expenditure on fossil fuels
Due to the government’s target of reducing its dependence on fossil fuels and increase renewable energy production, CSP could prove to be a more cost effective option than other forms of generation.
Once it is implemented, CSP plants will require little in the way of additional investment costs or ongoing maintenance fees.
Applications for concentrated solar power
The applications for concentrated solar power can be best understood by taking a look at the different technologies that are used to split water and produce hydrogen fuel.
When the sun’s energy is focused onto a high temperature receiver, it can be used to split water into hydrogen and oxygen (with the added benefit of using non-fossil fuel to do so).
1. Fuel production using thermal methods (via high temperature receivers).
The receiver can be used to produce hydrogen by thermolysis or electrolysis, as long as there is some means of extracting and storing the energy.
2. Thermal storage devices for solar power plants.
(easy transfer of heat directly into a liquid medium which acts to store the heat energy for later use – no batteries needed!) – also used in hybrid systems that combine CSP and PV panels!
3. Electrical heat pumps.
(the application of an existing heating system to warm up water during times when electricity is not being produced; this reduces strain on other grid power sources such as natural gas plants)
4. Thermoelectric generators.
(electricity is created when two different conductors are placed at two different temperatures and the voltage due to their temperature difference is harnessed)
5. Occupeotrophic tubular reactors that use a catalyst in order to produce hydrogen gas from solar heat and water.
(the catalyst changes, or ‘reduces’ oxygen molecules into hydrogen molecules – as long as there is an energy source; this type of reactor works best if it has no exposed external surfaces so that heat can be applied directly to the interior rather than outside obstacles which may reduce its efficiency.) .
Conclusion
We hope you’ve enjoyed this introduction to concentrated solar power and the different ways it can be used.
The benefits of CSP are clear, but we still have a lot of work ahead if we want to make sure that our planet is sustainable in the future.
Will concentrated solar power take off or will another form of renewable energy prove more viable?
Share your thoughts with us!