Solar thermal systems harness solar energy by utilising solar radiations to generate heat- as hot water, hot air, steam etc. that can be deployed for meeting numerous applications in different sectors such as power generation on a large scale, space heating, space cooling, community cooking, process heating etc. These applications make use of solar energy collectors as heat exchangers that transform solar radiation energy to internal energy of the transport medium (or heat transfer fluid, usually air, water, or oil). The solar energy thus collected is carried from the circulating fluid either directly to the hot water or space conditioning equipment, or to a thermal energy storage tank from which can be drawn for use at night andor cloudy days. Solar thermal systems can be either non-concentrating or concentrating types. They may also be either stationary or with sun-tracking mechanisms, depending on the application, temperatures required and economic viability.

Solar thermal systems harness solar energy by utilising solar radiations to generate heat- as hot water, hot air, steam etc. that can be deployed for meeting numerous applications in different sectors such as power generation on a large scale, space heating, space cooling, community cooking, process heating etc. These applications make use of solar energy collectors as heat exchangers that transform solar radiation energy to internal energy of the transport medium (or heat transfer fluid, usually air, water, or oil). The solar energy thus collected is carried from the circulating fluid either directly to the hot water or space conditioning equipment, or to a thermal energy storage tank from which can be drawn for use at night andor cloudy days. Solar thermal systems can be either non-concentrating or concentrating types. They may also be either stationary or with sun-tracking mechanisms, depending on the application, temperatures required and economic viability.