https://doi.org/10.1051/epjconf/201714800008
Concentrating Solar Power Systems
DLR Institute of Solar Research - Linder Höhe, 51147 Cologne, Germany
(*) E-mail: robert.pitz-paal@dlr.de
Published online: 24 July 2017
Development of Concentrating Solar Power Systems has started about 40 years ago. A first commercial implementation was performed between 1985 and 1991 in California. However, a drop in gas prices caused a longer period without further deployment. It was overcome in 2007 when new incentive schemes for renewables in Spain and the US enabled a commercial restart. In 2016, almost 100 commercial CSP plants with more than 5GW are installed worldwide. This paper describes the physical background of CSP technology, its technical characteristics and concepts. Furthermore, it discusses system performances, cost structures and the expected advancement.
© The Authors, published by EDP Sciences - SIF, 2017
This is an Open Access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License 4.0, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.