Dive Brief:

• The concentrating solar power (CSP) market will shrink, but the technology will produce less expensive electricity than multicrystalline silicon, according to Lux Research.
• Energy from CSP with thermal energy storage could be up to 33% less expensive than photovoltaic systems in some areas, Lux said.
• A key area for cost reductions will be thermal energy storage, Lux said.

Dive Insight:

The just completed 392-MW Ivanpah solar plant has put the spotlight back on CSP. "CSP has fallen by the wayside of the solar industry after attracting huge amounts of government and investor money in 2010 and 2011,” Ed Cahill, Lux Research Associate. “But the industry can still bring the technology back to the forefront for utility-scale, stand-alone power applications."