Research Uses Mirrors to Make Solar Energy Cost Competitive
Monday, April 15, 2013 - 09:50
in Physics & Chemistry
Concentrating solar power technologies use mirrors to reflect and concentrate sunlight to produce heat, which can then be used to produce electricity, according to Ranga Pitchumani, Virginia Tech professor of mechanical engineering and director of the Concentrating Solar Power program. These technologies present a distinct advantage over photovoltaic (PV) cells in their ability to store the sun's energy as thermal energy, and represent a subset of the SunShot Initiative of the Department of Energy.