Imperative Role of Photovoltaic and Concentrating Solar Power Technologies towards Renewable Energy Generation

The United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) 2030 agenda illustrates the requirement of expanding infrastructure and advancing technology for delivering modern and sustainable energy services for all in developing countries. Moreover, UNDP also set a goal of increasing the renewable energy share in the global energy. Renewable energy resources are eco-friendly and widely available resources from nature for generating energy. Geothermal energy, wind energy, solar energy, tidal energy, and biomass energy are renewable energy sources. Solar energy is one of the renewable energy generation approaches that harvests energy widely from sun radiation. Photovoltaic (PV) and concentrating solar power (CSP) are the primary technologies to capture solar energy. This study presents the significance of utilizing solar energy for electricity generation globally using PV and CSP technologies. Furthermore, the distinct energy capturing and storing mechanisms of PV and CSP technologies are presented in detail. This article presents the significance and implementation of thermal energy storage for storing energy obtained through CSP technology. Finally, the study presents a considerable gap between PV and CSP in terms of development with future trends.