Concentrated Solar Power Systems Could Integrate Fossil Fuel Backup

Concentrated Solar Power Overview

Concentrated solar power (CSP), also known as solar thermal, uses mirrors to focus sunlight and generate heat. This heat then drives traditional turbines to produce electricity. Unlike photovoltaics (PV) that directly convert light to electricity, CSP can store heat to generate power continuously, even overnight.

Economic Shift Towards Photovoltaics

While CSP costs decreased to compete with nuclear power, the price of photovoltaic panels dropped significantly, making PV the most economical solar power source in many locations. This shift led to a reliance on separate backup systems, such as batteries or natural gas plants, to cover periods when solar panels are not generating power.

Integrated Backup Solution

A small company is developing a version of concentrated solar that integrates a fossil-fueled backup system directly into the solar thermal plant. This design allows the solar and backup systems to share most of the generating hardware, potentially reducing the need for entirely separate backup facilities. This approach seeks to address the challenge of intermittent solar power generation more efficiently.

CSP System Mechanics

In a typical CSP setup, heliostats (mirrors with tracking systems) focus sunlight onto a tower, heating a working fluid. This hot fluid can either power a steam turbine immediately or store its heat for later use. Various configurations exist, including different working fluids, heat storage methods, and mirror designs like trough-shaped mirrors, all aimed at mitigating issues such as numerous moving parts and corrosive fluids inherent in CSP technology.