Concentrated solar power

Concentrated solar power uses mirrors or lenses to focus sunlight onto a receiver, producing heat that drives a turbine or another power-conversion system.

Solar concentrator: An optical device that gathers sunlight from a broad area and focuses it onto a smaller target. Mirrors or lenses concentrate sunlight before it reaches the thermal receiver.
Heliostat: A mirror that tracks the Sun and reflects sunlight toward a fixed target. Tower systems use heliostats to direct sunlight toward the elevated receiver.
Solar power tower: A concentrated solar plant that uses a field of tracking mirrors to heat a receiver on a tower. Tower systems are a major configuration for high-temperature collection and thermal storage.
Photovoltaics: The direct conversion of light into electricity using semiconductor materials. Photovoltaics convert sunlight directly, whereas concentrated solar power first collects it as heat.
Dispatchable generation: Electricity generation that can be increased or decreased in response to system demand or operating needs. Thermal storage can let concentrated solar plants schedule output after collection ends.
Solar thermal collector: A device that captures solar radiation as heat for direct use or conversion into another energy form. Concentrated solar power is the high-temperature, power-generating branch of solar thermal collection.
Parabolic trough: A curved reflector that focuses sunlight onto a receiver tube along its focal line. Trough plants use this line-focus geometry to heat a circulating fluid.
Solar furnace: An installation that focuses sunlight to produce very high temperatures for experiments or industrial processes. Concentrating optics can supply extreme heat without using a power-generation cycle.
Solar pond: A salt-gradient pond that collects and stores solar heat in its lower layers. Solar ponds collect low-grade heat without focusing sunlight onto a receiver.
Capacity factor: The ratio of a power plant's actual energy output over time to its maximum possible output. Storage and sunlight conditions affect how much of a plant's potential output is realized.

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