If I am designing a power plant, a Concnetrated Solar Power (CSP) or Photovoltaic would be better? and why?
Question:
Answer:
A CSP would be more complicated because you need to keep your concentrator (mirror, lens) aimed at the sun. Then you need some sort of plumbing to transfer the heat energy to something like a steam engine or turbine which is connected to your generator. Parts of your system have to withstand very high temperatures. On cloudy days it doesn't work at all.
A PV system generates electricity directly without all those steps. The panels will work best if they track the sun but they don't have to. They also will generate a little electricity on overcast days.
The wattage is directly proportional to the area of the panels so a high megawatt system will cover a lot of ground but it doesn't have to be all in one place. You could use the roofs of several buildings.
It depends on where you live, if in CA or somewhere with lots of sun go for the CSP
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