Solar thermal will be continue for sake of direct heating and drying as well as water desalination. But for generating electricity from the solar energy the photovoltaic generators are more suitable and they are already used to build Gigawatt photovoltaic power stations.

The efforts of the renewable energy are concentrated on PV generation.

I would like that you read the paper in the link:Method From conventional to renewable energy transformation challenge

Best wishes

In 2000, the only type of renewable energy source used for electricity generation at the world level was hydropower. After that year, hydropower continues to be one of the primary renewable energy sources used by several countries for electricity generation, but wind energy and solar energy began to be a significant part of the energy mix of many countries. It is expected that, in 2050, the use of wind and solar energies for electricity generation will be higher than the use of hydropower. It is also projected that, in 2050, the use of fossil fuels for electricity generation will continue to be the primary type of energy source at the world level. However, it is most likely that, by 2050, some countries will depend entirely, or almost entirely, in the use of renewable energy sources for electricity generation and for satisfying their foreseen increase in the future energy demand.

Without a doubt, solar energy will be one of the main renewable energy sources at the world level.

Absolutely, renewable energy is the present and future energy. Only from solar energy, the IEA report predicts solar power domination by 2050 (Report Oct. 2014):

- PV could generate as much as 16 percent of the world’s electricity by mid-century

- Solar thermal electricity generated by CSP could account for another 11 percent

- PV and CSP could cut annual carbon dioxide emissions by more than 6 billion tonnes with the worldwide installation of 4,600 GW of PV capacity by 2050

- Worldwide PV capacity had surpassed 150 GW and the IEA reports an estimated 100 MW of capacity being installed on a daily basis throughout 2014

- IEA predicts the cost of PV decrease of 50-65% by 2050

Certainly, Solar Thermal Energy has a very considerable future as a clean renewable energy source

The Future of Solar Energy considers only the two widely recognized classes of technologies for converting solar energy into electricity — photovoltaics (PV) and concentrated solar power (CSP), sometimes called solar thermal) — in their current and plausible future forms. Because energy supply facilities typically last several decades, technologies in these classes will dominate solar-powered generation between now and 2050, and we do not attempt to look beyond that date. In contrast to some earlier Future of studies, we also present no forecasts — for two reasons. First, expanding the solar industry dramatically from its relatively tiny current scale may produce changes we do not pretend to be able to foresee today. Second, we recognize that future solar deployment will depend heavily on uncertain future market conditions and public policies — including but not limited to policies aimed at mitigating global climate change

Details here

http://energy.mit.edu/research/future-solar-energy/

The Sun emits enough power onto Earth each second to satisfy the entire human energy demand for over two hours. Given that it is readily available and renewable, solar power is an attractive source of energy. However, as of 2018, less than two percent of the world’s energy came from solar. Historically, solar energy harvesting has been expensive and relatively inefficient. Even this meager solar usage, though, is an improvement over the previous two decades, as the amount of power collected from solar energy worldwide increased over 300-fold from 2000 to 2019. New technological advances over the last twenty years have driven this increased reliance on solar by decreasing costs, and new technological developments promise to augment this solar usage by further decreasing costs and increasing solar panel efficiency.

The Future of Solar Cells

To outpace current solar cells, a new design would need to be able to capture more light, transform light energy to electricity more efficiently, and/or be less expensive to build than current designs. Energy producers and consumers are more likely to adopt solar power if the energy it produces is equally or less expensive than other, often non-renewable, forms of electricity, so any improvement to current solar cell designs must bring down overall costs to become widely used.

The first option, adding hardware that allows the solar cells to capture more light, does not actually require that we abandon current solar cell designs. Electronics can be installed with the solar cell that let the cell track the sun as it moves through the daytime sky. If the solar cell is always pointing at the sun, it will be hit by many more photons than if it was only pointing towards the sun around midday. Currently, designing electronics that can track the position of the sun accurately and consistently for several decades at a reasonable cost is an ongoing challenge, but innovation on this front continues. An alternative to making the solar cell itself move is to use mirrors to focus light on a smaller, and therefore cheaper solar cell.

Another route to improving the performance of solar cells is to target their efficiency so they are better at converting energy in sunlight to electricity. Solar cells with more than one layer of light-capturing material can capture more photons than solar cells with only a single layer. Recently, lab-tested solar cells with four layers can capture 46% of the incoming light energy that hit them. These cells are still mostly too expensive and difficult to make for commercial use, but ongoing research may one day make implementing these super-efficient cells possible.

The alternative to improving the efficiency of solar cells is simply decreasing their cost. Even though processing silicon has become cheaper over the past few decades, it still contributes significantly to the cost of solar cell installation. By using thinner solar cells, material costs decrease. These “thin-film solar cells” use a layer of material to harvest light energy that is only 2 to 8 micrometers thick, only about 1% of what is used to make a traditional solar cell. Much like cells with multiple layers, thin-film solar cells are a bit tricky to manufacture, which limits their application, but research is ongoing.

In the immediate future, silicon solar cells are likely to continue to decrease in cost and be installed in large numbers. In the United States, these cost decreases are anticipated to increase the solar power produced by at least 700% by 2050. Meanwhile, research on alternative designs for more efficient and less expensive solar cells will continue. Years from now, we are likely to see alternatives to silicon appearing on our solar farms and rooftops, helping to provide clean and renewable sources of energy. These improvements have and will continue to be made possible by increasing bulk manufacturing of solar cells and new technologies that make the cells cheaper and more efficient.

For more information:

http://sitn.hms.harvard.edu/flash/2019/future-solar-bright/

The future looks bright for solar energy

• Over the past decade, the cost of solar has fallen dramatically.
• New technologies promise to increase efficiency and lower costs further.
• Solar energy will soon be unbeatable compared to fossil fuels.

Solar energy has come a long way in a decade. Back in 2010, the global market was small and highly dependent on subsidy regimes in countries such as Germany and Italy. This year there will be more than 115 gigawatts (GW) of solar installed across the world, which is more than all other generation technologies put together. It is also increasingly low cost, especially in sunnier regions where it has already become the lowest-cost form of new electricity generation

In the coming years, technology improvements will ensure that solar becomes even cheaper. It could well be that by 2030, solar will have become the most important source of energy for electricity production in a large part of the world. This will also have a positive impact on the environment and climate change

Going forward the solar industry has very clear cost-reduction roadmaps, which should see solar costs halving by 2030. There is already a move in place towards higher-efficiency modules, which can generate 1.5 times more power than existing, similarly sized modules today using a technology called tandem silicon cells. These are going to have a large impact going forward.

In addition, there are production innovations coming down the pipeline that will reduce the amounts of costly materials such as silver and silicon used in the manufacture of solar cells, as well as innovations such as bifacial modules which allow panels to capture solar energy from both sides. The other important innovation is around how best to integrate solar into our homes, businesses and power systems. This means better power electronics and a greater use of low-cost digital technologies.

More details here

https://www.weforum.org/agenda/2020/01/the-future-looks-bright-for-solar-energy/

Why the future of solar is bright

Tech advances drive a bright future

With strong growth, particularly in many smaller markets, the solar future is bright. The industry is set to grow 17.5 percent this year alone, with decreased costs making it a more attractive proposition.

Bifacial PV modules and the expanding application of single-axis trackers are helping to fuel this growth. Bifacial modules provide additional energy as they can absorb and convert light into electricity from both sides of the module, capturing energy that reflects from the ground.

Why the future of solar is bright

https://www.renewableenergyworld.com/2019/11/12/why-the-future-of-solar-is-bright/#gref

Future of Solar Energy Brighter Than Sun: Rapid Innovations Pave the Way

We live in the age of automation and artificial intelligence. We need smartphones with long-lasting battery backup. We demand computers with higher computing power. In short, we require more and more energy. And when it comes to energy, we often turn to the most sustainable power alternative: solar energy.

Its abundance is not the only aspect that makes it the best candidate to fulfill increasing energy demand. Over the last few years, it has overcome several hurdles that prevented it from last-scale adoption. The global value of the market is increasing at a colossal compound annual growth rate of 20.5%.

The solar energy market has come a long way. In 2019, the market accounted for $58.5 billion, according to research firm Allied Market Research. Now, Allied Market Research predicts that the global solar energy market will reach $250 billion by 2026 or $500 billion by 2030.

Solar Energy Challenges

Several countries are investing big bucks in solar energy. Although solar energy would be the energy source of all the futuristic advancements, it needs to be harnessed properly. The most common applications of solar energy are for cooking purposes, and heating homes and water. However, not every country gets long hours of sunlight and that prevents them from harnessing solar energy.

Apart from this, one of the major challenges is the storage of solar energy. Moreover, the current solar battery storage systems are quite expensive. However, several modern solar panels have dealt with issues, but there still is a lot of scope for improvement. Moreover, squeezing maximum efficiency out of a regular solar panel is another challenge. Currently, the silicon-based solar panel offers only 33% efficiency, which means most of the solar radiation is not used to generate electricity.

A Novel Way to Boost Solar Power

The dire need for generating the maximum amount of electricity from a solar panel has led researchers to look for another material for manufacturing solar panels. In fact, researchers in Australia and China have launched a novel solar cell that can harness maximum power from solar panels.

The product is made of perovskite, a structure that was discovered in the mid-1800s. The researchers used the material to develop cheaper and more efficient solar panels, which are more durable.

The hurdle of minimizing the manufacturing costs of solar panels is not easy to overcome. However, we can increase conversion efficiency. The degree to which a panel converts energy from sunlight into electricity defines the conversion efficiency. The conventional silicon-based photovoltaic panels offer a conversion efficiency of about 16% to 18%. However, the perovskite solar panel could provide an efficiency of about 35%, while reducing manufacturing costs.

The Invention of a New Hybrid Device

Solar panels and solar cells directly rely on photovoltaic technology for the generation of electricity. However, a novel hybrid device developed by researchers at the University of Houston can perform both the tasks of capturing solar energy and storing it until it is consumed.

The hybrid device is capable of capturing the heat from the sun and storing it in the form of thermal energy. This would enable the wide-scale adoption of solar power, as it would generate solar energy 24 x 7 regardless of limited sunlight hours and uncertain weather.

A paper on the subject was published in Joule. The researchers combined latent heat storage and molecular energy storage to generate integrated harvesting and keep the device operational around the clock. According to the researchers, the device offers harvesting efficiency of 73% at small-scale operation and around 90% at large-scale operation. Moreover, it is observed that up to 80% of stored energy can be recovered at night, and the recovery during daylight is even higher.

The device is developed using norbornadiene quadricyclane as the molecular storage material. It is an organic compound that showcases high specific energy and exceptional heat release while being operation over a long period of storage time. The researchers said that the same concept can be applied to different materials to optimize temperature and efficiency.

Turning Solar Power into Home Appliance

A year ago, California granted permission to update building codes, which require all new buildings to have solar panels attached to rooftops. Moreover, multifamily buildings below three stories must comply with these regulations. As a result, residential installers have been working to build partnerships with home builders. In turn, Sacramento Municipal Utility District offered a program that is designed to help meet the mandate through community solar.

In fact, the new building code has opened new opportunities to fulfill solar requirements. What’s more, the mandate would mean the addition of between 123 MW and 334 MW yearly through 2026. This is an unprecedented advancement in the solar energy industry.

The Future of Solar Energy

One way or another, we all turn our heads toward renewable energy sources. There are only two widely recognized solar technologies—photovoltaic cells and concentrated solar power—in the current situation. Yet, solar energy is bound to dominate other energy sources, and baby steps are being taken in that direction.

For instance, places like Cumberland, Maine, now have solar fields. The Cumberland solar field, which holds about 1,400 solar panels, is expected to fulfill the power needs of the entire town’s buildings. According to Bill Shane, the Cumberland town manager, the town could save more than $100,000 in the next seven or eight years, and in the long run, it could save up to $4 million.

To increase the adoption of solar cells, a new design that could capture more light and transform the light energy into electricity while maintaining the cost of production is needed. The consumers, as well as producers, are more likely to adopt solar energy if it produces the energy equal to other non-renewable resources.

The innovations such as perovskite based photovoltaic cells are just the beginning. But there is a scope of improvement. Electronics that can track the sun throughout the day can be installed to generate more solar power. If the solar panel is continuously pointing at the sun, it will be hit by more photons than if it was directed toward the sun during midday. However, the research regarding this direction is ongoing.

There are other approaches to boost efficiency. For instance, an argument was made that instead of moving solar panels, mirrors should be used to focus the light on a smaller plane, which could also reduce the manufacturing cost of solar cells.

In the coming years, silicon-based solar cells are most likely to gather attention and continue to become more affordable if installed in large numbers. On the other hand, major market players are likely to invest more in research and development to increase the efficiency of photovoltaic cells and find more effective material than silicon to build solar cells. However, these improvements will take time and are possible only if solar cells undergo bulk manufacturing and installation. In that case, the future of solar cells is as bright as the sun

You can find details here

https://www.powermag.com/blog/future-of-solar-energy-brighter-than-sun-rapid-innovations-pave-the-way/

The role of Solar thermal in Future Energy Systems

https://www.energyplan.eu/solarthermal/

How a Solar Plant Can Run Around the Clock, Even After Sunset

https://www.eastwestbank.com/ReachFurther/en/News/Article/How-a-Solar-Plant-Can-Run-Around-the-Clock%2C-Even-After-Sunset

Solar Thermal Future Development

The development of solar thermal technology efficiencies

As the price of conventional fuel rises rapidly and as the technology becomes more affordable and accessible to the mass market, more and more people are turning to renewable energy solutions to provide environmentally friendly heating and electricity for their homes and businesses.

This is being recognised by governments, who are trying to encourage the use of renewable energy through schemes like the Renewable Heat Incentive and the Renewable Heat Premium Payments.

As the renewables market is growing exponentially, new technologies are being brought to the fore at a rapid pace. For example, solar technologies are becoming increasingly aesthetically pleasing and inconspicuous. It is also likely that more building-integrated solar collectors (such as the in-roof panel) will become readily available and standard in new build projects.

Another example of this is the combined solar photovoltaic and thermal (solar PVT) panel, which is able to generate both electricity and heat. As solar PV panels are only around 15-20% efficient, the excess energy can be used for heating.

Details in this link

https://www.renewableenergyhub.co.uk/main/solar-thermal-information/solar-thermal-technological-advancement-and-future-technologies/

Is Solar Thermal a Viable Solution for a

Future Renewable Energy System?

You can find the answer in the attached file

THE PRESENT AND FUTURE USE OF SOLAR THERMAL ENERGY

AS A PRIMARY SOURCE OF ENERGY

The radiative energy from the Sun that keeps our planet warm exceeds by far the current primary energy supply used by mankind for its comfort, leisure and economic activities. It also exceeds vastly other energy sources at ground level such as geothermic or tidal energy, nuclear power and fossil fuel burning. Sunrays also drive hydraulics, wind and wave power and biomass growth.

An article on THE PRESENT AND FUTURE USE OF SOLAR THERMAL ENERGY

is attached

Solar thermal will be continue for sake of direct heating and drying as well as water desalination. But for generating electricity from the solar energy the photovoltaic generators are more suitable and they are already used to build Gigawatt photovoltaic power stations.

The efforts of the renewable energy are concentrated on PV generation.

I would like that you read the paper in the link:Method From conventional to renewable energy transformation challenge

Best wishes

Yes. Applications include thermal storage, thermal mechanical refrigeration at large scale.

Solar thermal technology is not the same as solar panel or photovoltaic technologies. Solar thermal technology uses the Sun's energy to generate thermal (heat) energy. Solar Thermal electric energy generation concentrates the light from the Sun to heat water or other fluids, and can also power solar cooling systems (like air-conditioning) At the present stage of technology development, the major applications for utilising solar thermal energy are heating water, heating buildings and heating swimming pools. In general, the collectors used are flat-plate, solar-energy collectors, in a fixed position.

Solar collectors fall into two general categories: non-concentrating and concentrating. In the non-concentrating type, the area collecting the solar energy is the same as the area absorbing the energy. Whereas in concentrating collectors, the area collecting the solar energy is greater, sometimes hundreds of times greater, than the absorber area. Concentrating collectors are generally used where greater energy conversion efficiencies are needed, for example, when the heat generation needs to be very high, as in the production of steam

The main solar thermal uses are the following:

• Generation of electricity through renewable energies as an alternative to fossil fuel.
• Generation of hot water for indoor or outdoor swimming pools heating.
• Underfloor heating or radiators.
• Production of domestic hot water (DHW). These solar systems are used to heat household water for showering, washing dishes, washing hands, etc.
• Operate refrigeration appliances. Solar thermal energy can also be used for cooling buildings (air conditioning) or in industrial processes (refrigeration).
• To heat energy to be used in agricultural product dryers.
• Industrial use, for example in solar ovens.
• Cooling by means of solar energy
• Desalination using solar energy

Solar thermal energy takes advantage of sun's energy to obtain heat. Normally a liquid is heated to be able to transport this energy more easily to the place where it is required.

More details here

https://solar-energy.technology/thermal-solar-energy/uses

Solar Thermal Energy – Applications & Advantages

https://www.ethraa-a.com/solar-thermal-energy-applications-advantages/

solar thermal

Solar power has become the intelligent alternative to fossil fuels, particularly with the advent of Peak Oil. Along with wind and photovoltaic applications, solar thermal systems are experiencing rapid growth worldwide.

Visit this site

http://www.solardesign.com/about/technology-solar-thermal.php

A Course presentation on

Solar Thermal; Technology & Applications

is attached

An important file about Solar Thermal Applications

I expect it to have a promising future in the refrigeration and air conditioning in hot regions in particular, if the electricity tariffs are according to the international price.

In the field I would say 9 out of 10 or more solar projects are PV in the US for commercial buildings. There's a few reasons for this.

1) PV is easier to maintain (no freezing pipes, space for storage, etc.)

2) PV generates electricity, which is typically more valuable than natural gas

3) Electricity is more flexible and can be used to make heat (resistance or heat pump) as well as all the other uses of electricity.

4) The environmental impact of offsetting electrical production is frequently better than offsetting natural gas.

I do have a client looking to generate 150F (66C) hot water to drive an organic rankine cycle, but that's very uncommon in practice.

I see solar thermal as a niche solution for specific applications at a scale that justifies the complexity of operations.

I recommend the answer of Dr Radwan Almasri especially in cases of

the electricity tariffs are according to the international price

Solar thermal technologies involve harnessing solar energy for thermal energy (heat).

Solar thermal technologies comprise flat or parabollic collectors (low and medium temperatures and high temperature collectors) concentrating sunlight mainly using mirrors and lenses.

Solar Thermal Heating

Solar heating is the utilisation of solar energy to provide process heat, especially in crop drying, water heating, cooking or space heating and cooling. Advanced designs are also used to generate electricity.

Solar Water Heaters

Solar collectors are applicable worldwide and are even suitable in areas with low solar radiation and short periods of sunshine. The technology of solar thermal water heaters is present worldwide and significant deployments occur already in emerging economies and developing countries. Technologies include glazed flat plate collectors, evacuated tube collectors, and lower-temperature swimming-pool heaters made from plastic tubes.

Concentrating Solar Thermal Power

Concentrating solar thermal power systems (CSP) use mirrors and tracking systems to focus sunlight from a large area into a small focussed beam. The concentrated heat is then used as a heat source for various applications, such as conventional steam-based power plant, desalination of water, or for cooking. A wide range of concentrating technologies exists; the most developed are the parabolic trough and the solar power tower. Two less well-developed technologies are dish concentrators and linear Fresnel reflectors. Various techniques are used to track the sun and focus light. Very common in CSP is the use of thermal energy storage, which can be used to provide heat at times when the sun is not shining. Energy storage via CSP is cost effective and almost all CSP systems are built with storage capacity up to 15 hours.

Solar cooking can be done are relatively small scale and low cost using a wide range of technologies such as box cookers, solar bowls and the Scheffler reflector

Solar Cooking

• Solar cooking allows cooks to heat, cook, bake or pasteurize food or drink. Solar Energy can be an ideal component of the energy mix of a household to complement other combustion-based stoves that can produce heat on demand based on other fuels if the sun does not shine. Local dishes. cooking habits and local climatic conditions determine how much alternative fuels can be saved, around 30%-40%.

Solar Thermal Cooling

• Solar thermal energy power stations may also be used for cooling: this refers to either cooling buildings (air conditioning) or industrial processes (refrigeration). Through evaporation and condensation, the solar thermal energy is processed as cold. There are open and closed systems. Most widely used are closed systems like absorption refrigeration machines and open cooling and dehumidifying processes, such as sorption supported air conditioning.

The market is at a very early stage, with around 1-10,000 cooling systems have been installed up until 2019. The interest in solar cooling products continues to increase. They are more attractive, in case of high electricity prices and frequent electricity outages. Today, numerous systems from various manufacturers are offered on the market and have reached considerable technical maturity.

The sun is a source of energy on Earth, and in a sense, it is a source of life; as energy is the most important commodity for life besides providing light and heat to the planet. The reaction between the sun’s energy and Earth’s atmosphere determines weather patterns and rainfall, and Earth’s tilt towards the sun creates the seasons. Its role in photosynthesis helps plants to grow and its role in biodegradation helps complete the natural cycle of ecosystems. The sun also sources several other forms of energy on the planet: wind power depends on the sun’s impact on atmospheric movement as it creates wind patterns; through photosynthesis, sun contribute to bioenergy (wood and other organic materials); and fossil fuels indirectly owe their creation millions of years ago to solar energy

Solar thermal technologies are quite diverse in terms of their operational characteristics and applications—they include fairly simple technologies such as solar space heating and solar cooking as well as complex and sophisticated ones like solar air conditioning and solar thermal power generation. Solar thermal technologies have also a broad bandwidth in terms of their economical standing. Solar water heating and solar space heating, for example, are very cost effective and are regarded among the most economical renewable energy technologies while high temperature technologies such as solar thermal power generation and solar air conditioning are on the higher economic bandwidth. Solar thermal technologies on the basis of their working temperature can be classified into the following three types:

• Low-temperature technologies (working temperature < 70°C)—solar space heating, solar pond, solar water heating, and solar crop drying.

• Medium-temperature technologies (70°C < working temperature < 200°C)—solar distillation, solar cooling, and solar cooking.

• High-temperature technologies (working temperature > 200°C)—solar thermal power generation technologies such as parabolic trough, solar tower, and parabolic dish

Solar thermal technologies operate by converting solar radiation into heat, which can be either directly utilized in various applications such as solar space heating, solar water heating, and solar air conditioning, or can be transformed into electricity to serve any purpose similar to conventional electricity. The key element in all solar thermal technologies is the collector, whose function is to gather the heat of solar radiation. Collectors normally come in three different types: flat plate, evacuated tube, and concentrated, and they operate in a wide range of temperatures, i.e., from less than 50°C to more than 1200°C. Solar thermal technologies normally operate in passive or active modes. Different types of solar thermal technologies are gaining huge attention across the world depending upon their technical and economical viability. Solar water heating, for example, in 2003, received a 21% share of the total investment made in renewable energy sector worldwide. Solar thermal power generation is also expected to grow at a healthy rate in coming years, as it is projected that by 2040 more than 5% of the world’s electricity demand could be satisfied by solar thermal power.

Solar thermal technologies operate by converting solar radiation into heat, which can be either directly utilized in various applications such as solar space heating, solar water heating, and solar air conditioning, or can be transformed into electricity to serve any purpose similar to conventional electricity. The key element in all solar thermal technologies is the collector, whose function is to gather the heat of solar radiation. Collectors normally come in three different types: flat plate, evacuated tube, and concentrated, and they operate in a wide range of temperatures, i.e., from less than 50°C to more than 1200°C. Solar thermal technologies normally operate in passive or active modes. Different types of solar thermal technologies are gaining huge attention across the world depending upon their technical and economical viability. Solar water heating, for example, in 2003, received a 21% share of the total investment made in renewable energy sector worldwide. Solar thermal power generation is also expected to grow at a healthy rate in coming years, as it is projected that by 2040 more than 5% of the world’s electricity demand could be satisfied by solar thermal power.

Thermal Energy have a future

Details here

http://what-when-how.com/energy-engineering/solar-thermal-technologies-energy-engineering/

There are many other uses for solar thermal technology. These include refrigeration, air conditioning, solar stills and desalination of salt water and more. More information on these technologies is available in the relevant texts given in the reference section at the end of this fact sheet. Other issues Manufacture in developing countries Many of the active solar technologies rely on sophisticated, exotic modern materials for their manufacture. This presents problems in developing countries where such materials have to be imported. Some countries do have a manufacturing base for solar thermal products but it is often small by no means widespread throughout the world. The market for solar products, such as solar water heaters, is small and growing only slowly. Solar passive technology, especially solar cooling, tends to be used traditionally in developing countries. Many technological advances have been made in design of ‘solar buildings’ in developed countries during the last two decades but again the level of technology is often high and expensive and out of reach for rural communities in developing countries.

Today solar PV is outperforming solar thermal energy in electricity generation.

Certainly solar PV is outperforming solar thermal energy in electricity generation.

All over the world it is the future clean energy as a renewable source.

As I mentioned before, the potential of solar thermal depends on the applications. Well thought, well designed and planned solar thermal applications have great potential. Thermal solar technologies are less expensive than PV technologies, they have longer life span, shorter payback period, easier installation and maintenance.

The keyworld here is the applications.

The most efficient and useful form of solar energy is for heating hot water. This is most useful in warm climates. People try to make it work in more northern latitudes, but the lack of sunlight and freezing temperatures during the winter present problems that are not easy to overcome.

Solar energy per square meter is small even in the Tropics. If you want twice as much energy, you need twice as much area.

Solar energy is a very small part of the world’s energy and will always be because it is so dilute. We have been going from low density energy such as wind and solar to higher density energies such as wood, then coal and finally nuclear fission energy. Nuclear fission energy is here now and is the safest way to generate large quantities of electricity. In 2019, the World consumed about 25 ,000 TerraWatts (TWh) of electricity. See https://www.iea.org/reports/world-energy-outlook-2019/electricity.

The concept that renewable energies, such as wind and solar can power the world is a popular and dangerous fairy tale. It will not die any time soon because it makes a seriously difficult problem look easy to solve. Nevertheless, it cannot work. The Laws of Physics will prevail even if you do not know what they are.

The electrical energy generated from solar thermal energy can be defined as the result of a process through which the collected solar energy is converted into electricity through the use of some type of device for converting heat into electricity. It is mostly a thermal engine, but there are other options, such as solar chimneys with pneumatic turbines. Solar thermal electricity did not find its presence in electro-energy networks until the 1980s, although the basic technology for the production of mechanical energy that could be converted to electricity with a conventional generator was available for several decades. The period of the eighties saw the birth of the first thermo-solar installations in order to produce electricity on a large scale. This fact was a response to the challenges of the oil crisis of the 70s. These conditions promoted the improvement and optimization of the most diverse elements of solar capture.

Solar thermal energy probably has the greatest potential of any other source of renewable energy in the tropics, but its development has been delayed due to the resistance of the energy market to large plants and the poor political and financial support of programs of incentives. However, at this time there is rapid development in both basic technology and market strategy, and the prospects for rapid growth now seem to be very clear in the global energy context.

As I attach a document that I wrote, regarding this topic. the paper is titled: Solar thermal and electricity. A state of the art

Solar energy will more and more develop in residencial buildings converting them in power stations. Not only with panels on the roof.