Largest solar thermal power stations (CSP) list

Largest operational solar thermal power stations list. Commercial concentrating solar power (CSP) plants, also called "solar thermal power stations".

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List.solar has compiled the global rating of top CSP plants sorted by capacity. Only megawatt-scale systems are included in the list (50MW+). Most of the winning stations use parabolic trough technology. Solar power tower systems rank second. Dish Stirling technology is not currently used in utility-scale CSP stations.

Concentrating solar, or solar thermal power plants, utilize systems of mirror or lenses and trackers to focus a huge volume of sunlight onto a receiver and generate heat energy. The thermal energy is either harnessed for industrial process heating or for creating steam, which turns a turbogenerator, producing electricity.

A CSP station can be supplemented with a storage system, which allows generating electrical power even at night or in dull weather.

There are four key groups of solar thermal systems, each of them having different variations and configurations. There is no single opinion as to which technology is optimal, all of them have their own pros and cons.

1. Parabolic trough is the oldest and best-developed CSP tech. The solar field consists of parallel rows of parabolically curved solar collectors comprised of reflectors, which concentrate sunlight onto a receiver tube filled with working fluid. The latter is heated to considerable temperatures and produces steam, the heat of which is utilized for electricity making. The reflectors are installed on single-axis trackers, going after the sun to keep its radiation always concentrated on a receiver pipe, which runs right above the trough-shaped mirror.
2. Power tower tech is not so developed as a parabolic trough, but it is a fast-developing and promising system. The heat-transfer fluids in such systems reach temps much higher than in parabolic troughs, and consequently they provide higher conversion efficiency. The technology is comprised of a tall tower with a receiver above, surrounded with heliostats – reflectors that track the sun’s position along 2 axes and focus solar irradiance onto a receiver. The working fluid gets heated, which results in formation of steam running a power generator. Energy storage systems are often integrated into power towers to provide uninterrupted electricity generation.
3. Linear Fresnel technology is much similar to a parabolic trough. The difference is in the form of mirrors used. Instead of curved reflectors, Fresnel system contains parallel rows of strip-shaped flat mirrors. They also follow the sun’s rays to concentrate them onto a system of receiver pipes filled with heat transfer fluid. The concentrating surface of flat reflectors is larger compared to parabolically curved mirrors and they are less expensive. Like parabolic troughs and solar power towers, Fresnel projects can also be integrated with energy storage.
4. Parabolic dish systems are made of a dish-shaped concentrator that focuses solar energy onto a receiver installed at a focal point. The reflector is installed on a double-axis tracking system. Unlike other CSP technologies where heat energy is converted into electrical power by a turbogenerator, in most dish systems steam is used to drive an engine (commonly Stirling engine). Today, dish-engine solutions are rarely used for commercial power production. A parabolic dish may be heated to extremely high temperature, which is a promising option for making a solar fuel.

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