By converting solar energy into chemical energy rather than thermal energy, the system can be coupled with highly efficient, low-cost, combined-cycle power generation technology and obtain higher levels of efficiency in producing electricity than either solar or natural gas plants. By converting solar energy into chemical energy rather than thermal energy, the system can be coupled with highly efficient, low-cost, combined-cycle power generation technology and obtain higher levels of efficiency in producing electricity than either solar or natural gas plants. In partnership with the National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) and Westinghouse, they're designing an integrated energy system that combines a next-generation nuclear reactor and a concentrating solar power plant. In addition, they're developing tools and algorithms to optimize the energy. Integrating solar collectors with other energy sources is common, as seen in domestic heating, where solar collectors are combined with common heaters to reduce fuel consumption (gasoline, electricity, gas, and biomass) and therefore, the energy cost. Similarly, this concept can be applied to. The Solar Thermochemical Advanced Reactor System, or STARS, converts natural gas and sunlight into a more energy-rich fuel called syngas, which power plants can burn to make electricity. STARS uses a mirrored parabolic dish to concentrate sunlight on a pod about four feet long and two feet wide. Concentrated solar power (CSP), also called concentrating solar power or concentrated solar thermal, involves systems that collect solar. To compare different ways of making electricity, you need to know both how much electricity a power plant can make at its peak, known as its “capacity,” and the percentage of the year the plant runs at that rate, called its “capacity factor. The first generation of these reactors have all been.