Solar-Thermal (Concentrated Solar Heating) By Vivian Doan

1.Description & Location It Is Used Description - Concentrating Solar Power technologies use mirrors to focus the sun’s light energy and convert it into heat to create steam to drive a turbine that generates electrical power. Location - Not every place is suitable. The largest CSP facilities in the United States are located at the America Mojave Desert of California and Nevada Spain is also a major developer of Solar Thermal plants.

2. Way(s) We Turn The Energy Source Into Energy That Can Be Used Trough Systems - use large, U shaped reflectors that have oil-filled pipes running along their center, or focal point. Because of their parabolical shape, troughs can focus the sun times its normal intensity on a receiver pipe located along the focal line of the trough. Synthetic oil captures this heat as the oil circulates through the pipe, reaching very high temperatures. The hot oil is pumped to a generating station and routed through a heat exchanger to produce steam. Finally, electricity is produced in a steam turbine.

2. Way(s) We Turn The Energy Source Into Energy That Can Be Used Power Tower Systems - Use numerous large, flat heliostats which focuses sunlight onto the receiver at the top of the tall tower. A heat-transfer fluid heated in the receiver is used to generate steam which, in turn, used in a conventional turbine generator to produce electricity. Other advanced designs are experimenting with molten nitrate salt because of its superior heat- transfer and energy storage capability. Dish Engine Systems - uses mirrored dishes to direct and concentrate sunlight onto a central engine that produces electricity. It produces relatively small amounts of electricity compared to other CSP technologies.

3. Projection For Future Use Solar Thermal electricity capacity is predicted to increase worldwide. The cost of building, operating, and maintaining solar thermal electric systems has decreased dramatically. Solar Thermal designs may be economically competitive with some conventional electricity-generating technologies. Abundant sunshine and plenty Of open space means Australia is Ideally placed to take advantage of Solar thermal technologies for Energy generation.

4. Economic and Environmental Benefits or Advantages One environmental benefit of Solar-Thermal Energy does not need any fuel like majority other sources of renewable energy. This is also a huge economical advantage because unlike other fossil fuels whose costs are increasing at a drastic rate every year. Another environmental benefit of Solar-Thermal Energy is there aren’t any pollution or global warming effects.

5. Economic and Environmental Disadvantages One of the biggest problems when it comes to Solar-Thermal is the cost. The cost of purchasing and installing is quite high. Although subsidy programs, tax initiatives and rebate incentives are given by government to promote the use of solar panels but we are still way behind in making full and efficient use of solar energy. Also, it might take up to 10 years to 15 years before you can break even with your initial investment. Another disadvantage of Solar Thermal is the location. Location is an issue because sunlight isn’t availible everywhere. Areas which remains mostly cloudy and foggy will produce electricity but at a reduced rate and may require more panels to generate enough electricity for your home.

6. Political, Social or Health Effects There aren’t any health effects that come with concentrated solar heating, but sites ideal for solar power generation because they receive abundant sunshine tend to be in arid regions where water is scarce. Concentrating solar thermal power plants use mirrors to focus the sun's rays onto water, generating steam that spins turbines. This process requires water for power generation and cooling efforts.

7. Objections or obstacles to overcome Some people or politicians are likely to discourage the use concentrated solar heating because it is slighly more expensive than solar PV. The plants are heavily location dependent and they require a considerable amount of space. Plus a good handful of people find them unattractive While expensive, Concentrated solar holds the promise of clean energy source that can be produced at scales comparable to coal or nuclear, under the appropriate conditions. While still subject to intermittency, it has been suggested that improved thermal energy storage solutions may hold the key to the long term success of CSP.

Citations C. (2013). Concentrated Solar Thermal. Retrieved 2016, from S. (n.d.). Concentrating Solar Power (CSP) Technology. Retrieved March 29, 2016, from SHah, A. (2013). Solar Thermal Energy. Retrieved March 29, 2016, from power-towersparabolic-troughs/ power-towersparabolic-troughs/ Siegel, R. (2012). Solar Thermal: Pros and Cons - Part 2: Concentrating Solar Power. Retrieved March 29, 2016, from part-2-concentrating-solar-power/ part-2-concentrating-solar-power/ C. (n.d.). Solar Thermal Electricity. Retrieved March 29, 2016, from