A cheaper way to use solar power energy has been created that concentrates the sun intense rays on a very small focal point. The key is using the sun as heat, opposed to turning the light directly into electricity.
“It uses an old principle—that concentrated light is a great heat source—to achieve a level of efficiency on par with conventional power sources and far higher than traditional solar cells. Instead of converting sunlight directly into electricity, as those familiar rooftop solar panels do, it uses a concave array of mirrors to focus light on a central point, where the resulting heat causes compressed hydrogen to expand, driving a four-cylinder engine that turns a 25-kilowatt generator. “