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Concentrated solar power or CSP uses mirrors (heliostats) to focus sunlight to heat up a solar receiver and heat fluid (usually molten salt storage) that can be stored for later. It has been around for literally thousands of years, but is still a hot new technology for the energy transition. In this video, I'm going talk about how CSP works and the different technology options: power tower, parabolic trough, Fresnel reflector and dish. We’re going to look at how it is different from solar photovoltaics with or without batteries, plus I'll explain why I think CSP's time to shine might have arrived. Spoiler alert, it's not about generation, it's because of cheap long duration energy storage.

Thanks to Keith Lovegrove from ITP for sharing his extensive CSP knowledge and CSP facility video footage with me. You can get in touch with Keith through ITP: https://itpthermal.com/

If you've got questions or want to learn more about CSP then join Keith and I in a livestream coming up on April 4 (Australia time): https://youtube.com/live/Guw1IMrU-qY

Bookmarks:
00:00 Intro
00:46 History of Concentrated Solar Power
03:12 The Different Types of CSP Systems
06:10 Thanks to Brilliant for sponsoring this video!
07:07 CSP vs PV
09:12 What about CSP vs PV + Battery?
10:09 CSP as Long Duration Storage
13:39 The Scale of CSP Systems
14:16 So why isn’t CSP more popular?
15:41 Outro

Sources:
X&Y Partners - Cannibalization in Renewable Energies
https://thisisxy.com/blog/cannibalization-in-renewable-energies-part-i-solar-energy

Phoumin et al - Potential Renewable Hydrogen from Curtailed Electricity to Decarbonize ASEAN’s Emissions: Policy Implications
https://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/12/24/10560

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