You are here: Solar panel types
- PV systems
- Standard solar panels with frame.
- Laminates: standard solar panels without frame.
- Transparent panels: these panels feature a space between the cells to achieve a certain degree of transparency.
- AC module: solar panel with inverter.
- Concentrating Solar Power (CSP)
?CSP systems use mirrors to reflect sunlight onto a receiver which can handle extremely high temperatures. This receiver contains liquid or gas that transports the heat to a steam turbine, an external combustion engine, or generator, which converts it into electricity. There are three types:
- Parabolic troughs?
Parabolic troughs concentrate solar energy in large, mirrored, U-shaped reflectors. These reflectors shine all of the sunlight onto pipes filled with oil. The oil is heated up to a temperature of 400ºC and is used to boil water and produce steam to drive generators and steam turbines, which in turn generate electricity.
- Power towers (solar power plants)?
Power towers catch solar rays with flat heliostats and reflect them onto a receiver located on top of a high tower, where the sunlight heats a liquid up to 570°C. The hot liquid can be used to produce steam to drive generators which then produce electricity.
- Solar dish engines (dish-shaped power generation systems)?
Solar dish engines use dish-shaped mirrors to concentrate sunlight onto a receiver located in the focus. The dish turns along with the sun.
- Solar towers?
In solar towers, the air is heated up by solar heat under a large, flat, circular solar collector that is open at the edges. A vertical tower stands in the centre of the circle. As the air gets hotter, it rises into the tower. This causes new cold air to be drawn in through the sides of the circle, repeating the process, which creates a continuous stream of air that is converted into mechanical energy by wind turbines. This energy is then converted into electricity by generators.
