5. Solar boilers

Thermodynamic solar power is a technology that enables solar energy to be harnessed in a relatively time-balanced way, as long as a low-loss thermal storage can be associated with the process. Integrated into a steam cycle with thermal storage, solar thermodynamics can produce electricity with an availability of over 6,000 hours per year.

In thermodynamic solar energy, two basic approaches are used to concentrate solar radiation:

• or solar radiation is concentrated on a surface at the top of a central tower;

• or the radiation is concentrated on a line at the focus of a parabolic or Fresnel mirror.

In the first case, the radiation flux is very high (of the order of 1,000 kW/m ² ). In the second case, the...