photovoltaics 

Photovoltaic means the direct conversion of light into electricity by the use of a semiconductor like silicone.

Already known for more than a half century and used in a lot of special applications like satellites the photo- voltaic systems have become a booming sector in the last few years by governmental support in some countries.

Today solar power plants in the MW size are installed especially in European countries, but not at least in remote areas solar home systems can help to enhance the electrification of our world.

These systems are consisting of a solar panel combined with a battery and a charger/inverter.

 
solar thermal power plants

In solar thermal power plants the heat energy of the solar radiation is used to drive conventional steam or gas turbine power plants.

In the last century several different design have been build and tested and the technology has reached a matured level.

The highest temperatures are obtained in the solar tower power plant, where a field of mirrors concentrates the radiation to a central tower, where the radiation is heating a thermal fluid or gas which drives a turbine.

In Parabolic trough power plants an absorber tube is located in the focal line of a parabolically shaped mirror. Temperatures of 400 °C have been obtained and several prototype plants have been operated successfully.

Both types of plants have power capacities of several hundred Megawatts and could be operated in hybrid mode together with a second heat source, f.e. natural gas.