Concentration of solar energy

The energy of our sun forms the basis of all life on Earth. Every day, sunlight and heat reach us in quantities that exceed global energy requirements by more than 1,000 times. Making better use of this enormous potential drives our work and motivates us.

Concentrating solar technologies enable the demand-oriented use of solar energy by using mirror systems to concentrate the radiation and convert it into high-temperature heat. This can be stored cost-effectively on a large scale and used to generate electricity, as industrial process heat, to produce solar fuels and combustibles, for seawater desalination and for heating purposes. In combination with photovoltaics, solar power can be generated efficiently, cost-effectively and with flexible control.

Depending on whether the concentration is point- or line-shaped and whether the mirrors are tracked or fixed, there are four basic technologies, of which solar towers and parabolic troughs dominate worldwide and are being further developed at the Institute of Solar Research.

Since the best resources are located in arid regions in the Earth's sun belt, the technology is globally relevant – with great opportunities for countries in the Global South and the German export industry.

Solar towers and heliostats

Nowadays, solar towers are the favoured technology for generating high-temperature heat in the range from 500 degrees Celsius to over 1,000 degrees Celsius. This form of energy can be stored highly efficiently and in large quantities and is equally suitable for generating electricity, chemical fuels or supplying industrial processes.

Parabolic troughs

Parabolic trough collectors are currently the most economically successful and most widely deployed technology for concentrating solar thermal power plants. Their success is mainly based on a standardized, cost-efficient collector design and geometry. This enables high reliability and broad market availability from multiple component suppliers.

Contact

Dr.-Ing. Kai Wieghardt

Head of Concentrating Solar Technologies Department
German Aerospace Center (DLR)
Institute of Solar Research
Im Langenbroich 13, 52428 Jülich
Germany

Dr.-Ing. Eckhard Lüpfert

Head of Concentrating Solar Technologies Department
German Aerospace Center (DLR)
Institute of Solar Research
Linder Höhe, 51147 Köln-Porz
Germany