By collecting solar energy during daylight hours and storing it in hot molten salt, concentrating solar power technologies like power towers give utilities an alternative method for meeting peak loads. Concentrating solar power plants produce electric power by converting the sun's energy into high-temperature heat using various mirror configurations. The heat is then channelled through a conventional generator.
Some systems use thermal storage during cloudy periods or at night.
Others can be combined with natural gas and the resulting hybrid power plants provide high-value, dispatchable power. The solar resource for generating power from concentrating solar power systems is plentiful. The amount of power generated by a concentrating solar power plant depends on the amount of direct sunlight. Like concentrating photovoltaic concentrators, these technologies use only direct-beam sunlight, rather than diffuse solar radiation. The southwestern United States potentially offers the best development opportunity for concentrating solar power technologies in the world.