What is solar thermal energy?

Solar thermal energy (STE) is a form of energy and a technology for harnessing solar energy to generate thermal energy for use in industry, and in the residential and commercial sectors. Solar thermal collectors are classified by the United States Energy Information Administration as low-, medium-, or high-temperature collectors.

Can solar thermal energy be used for process heat applications?

Therefore, the solar thermal energy system is considered to be one of the attractive solutions for producing thermal energy for process heat applications. Hence, there is tremendous opportunity to replace conventional energy sources with solar thermal energy systems.

Are solar thermal energy systems suitable for industrial applications?

The solar thermal energy systems performance for industrial applications are analyzed in the earlier previous studies to identify suitable solar thermal technology for various industrial process heat applications and are briefed in Table 2.

How to integrate solar thermal energy systems with industrial processes?

The integration of solar thermal energy systems with the industrial processes mainly depends on the local solar radiation, availability of land, conventional fuel prices, quality of steam required, and flexibility of system integration with the existing process.

What are the different types of solar energy conversion technologies?

Solar energy conversion technologies may be broadly classified into solar photovoltaic (PV) and solar thermal energy systems. Solar PV systems convert solar radiation into electricity directly and thermal systems convert solar radiation into heat.

What is solar thermal energy augmentation?

Solar heat augmentation for existing fossil fuel power plants is one of the important cost-effective applications for solar thermal systems. Similarly, the solar thermal energy systems can be easily integrated with existing process industries to supply heat to either water pre-heating/steam generation.