TurnKey Innovations Concentrated Solar Power
It makes most sense to make use of the energy available directly wherever possible;
–Meaning:
Use the sun’s heat directly without the detour through conversion to electricity (conversion losses appr. 75%)
and heat your domestic water or household or industrial process directly.
In variance to Photo-Voltaic (PV) Systems, whose main drawback is dramatically reduced efficiency at hot surface temperatures above 60°C (140F), –Solarthermal systems are made for hot temperatures –up to 450°C (850F) , so even for many industrial applications !
Solarthermal: –the hotter, – the better!
Next, there are
Direct Cooling Technologies.
In a nutshell these systems make use of the harvested heat energy directly to separate a chemical system. Which, reunited, drains lots of heat to change phase back again – thus cooling the to-be cooled air or water stream.
It’s quite astonishing how well these thermal cooling systems; -dephlegmators- actually work!
Last but not least:
Electricity!
Of course CSP plants can also produce Electricity through powering a steam-turbine genset. With temperature ranges available from CSP systems so-called dry steam can be fed into existing Rankine power cycles.
For back-up at night, especially biomass, green Hydrogen or simply LNG can be employed – or combinations thereof with large thermal heat reservoirs.
In general, different options may be ingenious, dependant on location, usage type and prime energy costs on site.