太陽能熱發(fā)電可能在美國市場找到突破口，但這必須以開發(fā)人商成功削減成本擊退了來自光伏太陽能系統(tǒng)的競爭并吸引發(fā)展可再生能源電廠所需巨額資金為前提。 雖然熱能發(fā)電新技術已被視為美國擺脫對化石燃料依賴的解決方案而備受吹捧，但迄今仍由于建設電站成本過高而發(fā)展步履維艱。
    像BrightSource能源和eSolar這種谷歌搜索中名列前茅的巨頭公司，以及西班牙的Abengoa太陽能公司等，他們有先進的技術，利用太陽光線加熱蒸汽推動發(fā)電機，進行發(fā)電。 第一太陽能與尚德等傳統(tǒng)光伏組件公司則提出利用光伏系統(tǒng)直接將陽光轉(zhuǎn)換成電能，占據(jù)了太陽能市場的最大份額。
    太陽熱能的支持者已經(jīng)表示，將太陽熱能發(fā)電可能在美建設大型發(fā)電項目，搶占市場份額，但光伏電池板價格大幅下降再次掀起了市場對光伏發(fā)電的巨大興趣，成為熱能發(fā)電技術的有力挑戰(zhàn)者。 
    太陽熱能只有達到一定規(guī)模時才會經(jīng)濟適用，項目成本高達數(shù)億美元。相較之，光伏系統(tǒng)可分布安裝，分散融資。此外， 光伏發(fā)電適用的群體更為廣泛，可在超大范圍，也適合小范圍小規(guī)模使用。一兆瓦（100萬瓦）電力已足夠800個美國家庭使用。

Solar thermal power could be close to a breakthrough in the U.S. market, but only if developers can shave costs to beat back competition from photovoltaic solar systems and attract the huge sums needed to finance the renewable energy plants.
    While the new technology has been touted as a solution toward moving the United States away from its dependence on fossil fuels, it has so far stumbled because of the high price tag for the massive plants.
Solar thermal companies like BrightSource Energy and eSolar, both of which count search giant Google among their investors, and Spain"s Abengoa Solar, have technology that concentrates the sun"s rays to heat water into steam and drive a generator.Traditional photovoltaic modules made by companies like First Solar and Suntech directly convert sunlight into electricity, and make up the largest chunk of the solar market.
    Backers of solar thermal have said it would claim the lion"s share of large-scale projects in the United States, but a sharp drop in photovoltaic panel prices has drawn much of the market"s interest to that technology.
    Solar thermal is economical only on a large scale, lifting total project costs into hundreds of millions of dollars, while PV systems can be built piecemeal in smaller steps that are easier to finance.
    PV, however, can be used for a wide range of applications, from very large to very small. One megawatt (1 million watts) is enough to power about 800 U.S. homes.