Query: For example, geothermal energy is available at all times, concentrated solar thermal energy has storage capability, and wind energy can be stored in compressed air.

Relevant passages:
Thermal energy storage <=SEP=> Thermal energy storage ( TES ) is achieved with greatly differing technologies that collectively accommodate a wide range of needs . It allows excess thermal energy to be collected for later use , hours , days or many months later , at individual building , multiuser building , district , town , or even regional scale depending on the specific technology . As examples : energy demand can be balanced between daytime and nighttime ; summer heat from solar collectors can be stored interseasonally for use in winter ; and cold obtained from winter air can be provided for summer air conditioning . Storage media include : water or ice-slush tanks ranging from small to massive , masses of native earth or bedrock accessed with heat exchangers in clusters of small-diameter boreholes ( sometimes quite deep ) ; deep aquifers contained between impermeable strata ; shallow , lined pits filled with gravel and water and top-insulated ; and eutectic , phase-change materials .   Other sources of thermal energy for storage include heat or cold produced with heat pumps from off-peak , lower cost electric power , a practice called peak shaving ; heat from combined heat and power ( CHP ) power plants ; heat produced by renewable electrical energy that exceeds grid demand and waste heat from industrial processes . Heat storage , both seasonal and short term , is considered an important means for cheaply balancing high shares of variable renewable electricity production and integration of electricity and heating sectors in energy systems almost or completely fed by renewable energy .

Concentrated solar power <=SEP=> Concentrated solar power ( also called concentrating solar power , concentrated solar thermal , and CSP ) systems generate solar power by using mirrors or lenses to concentrate a large area of sunlight , or solar thermal energy , onto a small area . Electricity is generated when the concentrated light is converted to heat , which drives a heat engine ( usually a steam turbine ) connected to an electrical power generator or powers a thermochemical reaction ( experimental ) . Heat storage in molten salts allows some solar thermal plants to continue to generate after sunset and adds value to such systems when compared to photovoltaic panels .   CSP is being commercialized and the CSP market saw about 740 megawatt ( MW ) of generating capacity added between 2007 and the end of 2010 . More than half of this ( about 478 MW ) was installed during 2010 , bringing the global total to 1095 MW . Spain added 400 MW in 2010 , taking the global lead with a total of 632 MW , while the US ended the year with 509 MW after adding 78 MW , including two fossil -- CSP hybrid plants . The Middle East is also ramping up their plans to install CSP based projects . Shams-I has been installed in Abu Dhabi , by Masdar . The largest CSP projects in the world is Ivanpah Solar Power Facility in the United States ( which uses solar power tower technology ) and Mojave Solar Project ( which uses parabolic troughs ) .   As of January 2014 , Spain had a total capacity of 2,300 MW making this country the world leader in CSP . United States follows with 1,740 MW . Interest is also notable in North Africa and the Middle East , as well as India and China . In Italy , a handful of companies are trying to get authorization for 14 plants , totalling 392 MW , despite a strong local and political opposition . The global market has been dominated by parabolic-trough plants , which account for 90 % of CSP plants .   In most cases , CSP technologies currently can not compete on price with photovoltaics ( solar panels ) , which have experienced huge growth in recent years due to falling prices of the panels and much smaller operating costs . However , the Chile Copiapó reached cents 6.3 / kWh . In 2015 , CSP represented less than 2 % of worldwide installed capacity of solar electricity plants .   CSP is not to be confused with concentrator photovoltaics ( CPV ) . In CPV , the concentrated sunlight is converted directly to electricity via the photovoltaic effect .

Solar power <=SEP=> Solar power is the conversion of energy from sunlight into electricity , either directly using photovoltaics ( PV ) , or indirectly using concentrated solar power . Concentrated solar power systems use lenses or mirrors and tracking systems to focus a large area of sunlight into a small beam . Photovoltaic cells convert light into an electric current using the photovoltaic effect .   Photovoltaics were initially solely used as a source of electricity for small and medium-sized applications , from the calculator powered by a single solar cell to remote homes powered by an off-grid rooftop PV system . Commercial concentrated solar power plants were first developed in the 1980s . The 392 MW Ivanpah installation is the largest concentrating solar power plant in the world , located in the Mojave Desert of California .   As the cost of solar electricity has fallen , the number of grid-connected solar PV systems has grown into the millions and utility-scale solar power stations with hundreds of megawatts are being built . Solar PV is rapidly becoming an inexpensive , low-carbon technology to harness renewable energy from the Sun . The current largest photovoltaic power station in the world is the 850 MW Longyangxia Dam Solar Park , in Qinghai , China .   The International Energy Agency projected in 2014 that under its `` high renewables '' scenario , by 2050 , solar photovoltaics and concentrated solar power would contribute about 16 and 11 percent , respectively , of the worldwide electricity consumption , and solar would be the world 's largest source of electricity . Most solar installations would be in China and India . Currently , as of 2016 , solar power provides just 1 % of total worldwide electricity production but growing 33 % per annum .