Solar Energy as Source for Power and Chemicals

In this chapter we present the different technologies that are currently used to capture solar energy and their application to power and chemicals production as a way to store it into handy fuels. We describe solar photovoltaics (PV solar), solar thermal, and solar thermoelectric. Once solar energy is converted in the form of power or heat, we use it for the production of chemicals or evaluate the performance of CSP plants comparing different cooling technologies using a system approach by presenting the results of modeling and optimizing the operation of several processes.