Concentrated Solar Thermal Companies

• Concentrated solar power involves using heat generated by the sun rather than fossil fuels to generate power in plants. Traditional methods involve using fossil fuels to heat water, which is converted into steam which spins the turbines that power electricity generators. Linear concentrator systems use rectangular, curved mirrors to direct sunlight in a method that boils the water. Companies developing concentrated solar power facilities serve to provide energy alternatives, especially in the western United States.

Solar Millennium

• In October 2010, the U.S. Department of the Interior approved the construction of a $6 billion concentrated solar power plant by German developer Solar Millennium which would become the largest plant of its kind in the world. According to MSNBC, the planned solar power plant in California's Mojave Desert would double the previously existing solar output of the United States and create enough energy to power 300,000 American homes.

  Solar Millennium developed the first concentrated solar power plants -- also known as parabolic trough plants -- in Europe at a site in Andalusia in southern Spain. The three Andasol plants take up 1.5 million square meters of space, with each plant generating approximately 150 GWh of power each year. The company also developed the first concentrated solar power plant in Egypt.

Keahole Solar Power

• An independent power producer based in Hawaii, Keahole Solar Power developed the first concentrated solar power plant in the state in 2009 at the Holaniku at Keahole Point site. The facility is promoted by the company as the first micro-scaled concentrated solar power field, producing two megawatts of thermal energy.

  In October 2010, Keahole Solar Power broke ground on a five-megawatt concentrated solar power plant on the island of Oahu. When it is completed, estimated to be by the third quarter of 2011, the Kalaeloa Solar One is anticipated to become the largest solar power plant in existence in Hawaii.

3M

• Although many people know 3M for its consumer products such as office supplies, 3M is also a major provider of solar film and adhesives for the concentrated solar power market. 3M has produced solar films since the 1980s and formed a solar energy division in 2009 specifically to create and market products for the solar energy industry.

  3M produces mirror films which are designed as replacements for the traditional glass mirrors found in concentrated solar power systems. Other products produced by 3M for the concentrated solar power industry include acrylic foam tape, thermal interface materials and structural adhesives.