With fast depleting natural resources and a proportionate, if not more, rise in energy demands, the world is already facing an energy crunch. Over the last several decades the energy consumption of the planet has risen exponentially. This has led to an increase pressure on the natural oil, gas, petroleum, and coal reserves so much so that they are near exhaustion. Add to the whole equation the fact that the use of such energy sources has only led to an increase in pollution and one should be genuinely concerned about the use of these non-renewable energy sources.
So what does this mean for our energy demands? If we are facing a shortage of non-renewable resources the next best alternative is to use renewable energy resources like wind energy, water energy and solar energy. Of the three, solar energy is the most freely available and provides the largest amount of energy per day. In fact, solar energy is capable of meeting the energy demands of the planet several thousand times over. Unfortunately even though the sunlight we receive on our planet is more than able to provide for all our energy needs, it still needs to be harnessed correctly before it can be converted into energy.
Solar energy can be harnessed using several specially designed equipments like solar panels and solar collectors, which when connected to batteries, chargers and convertors can convert solar energy into electricity. Solar panels can also be used to harness the thermal energy of the sun and use if for heating purposes. When using such products to utilise solar energy, the more the number of solar panels, the greater is the energy produced. Unfortunately even then not too much energy will be produced given the conditions of weather and geographical position of your house along with the fact that the sunlight is spread over a large surface area.
In such a situation, when you want to harness maximum solar energy in the most efficient manner possible, it is best to use concentrating solar power systems which are designed to generate maximum energy derived from the sun. Concentrating solar power systems use mirrors or lenses along with tracking systems in order to direct and focus a large area of sunlight. This method is not a new one and legend says that Archimedes used a similar method to repel invading Roman fleets.
Concentrating solar power systems can be of two kinds – thermal and photovoltaic. In the case of thermal concentrating solar power systems, heat is produced using lenses or mirrors. Once the sunlight is concentrated, it is used either as heat, or as a heat source to run a standard power plant. Concentrating solar power systems of the photovoltaic kind focus the light onto photovoltaic surfaces which generate electricity.
There are several technologies based on concentrating solar power systems. These include parabolic trough, dish stirling, concentrating linear Fresnel reflector, solar chimney and solar power tower.
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