Solar thermal energy refers to both the energy source and the technology that captures the solar energy for a wide range of applications ranging from heating water to industrial process heat and power generation.
The first recorded large-scale application of solar energy was in 1913, when an American inventor named Frank Shuman installed the first solar power plant in Maadi, near Cairo. There were no photovoltaic solar panels or solar experts back then. What Shuman built was a solar thermal powerplant.
Fast forward to today, and the world has a …
