Yes, there are several industrial applications that use a solar concentrator to drive a turbine engine or a Stirling engine. I'm not sure it's a viable way to

Yes, there are several industrial applications that use a solar concentrator to drive a turbine engine or a Stirling engine. I'm not sure it's a viable way to produce electricity on a small scale because: - high thermodynamic efficiency requires high temperature difference - photovoltaic panels are mass-produced and increasingly efficient Personally, I think small scale concentrated solar power is most useful for applications that require direct heat (cooking, desalination, foundries). In these cases, photovoltaics have a lower efficiency and a shorter lifetime.