Concentrating solar power (CSP) systems collect the suns energy as heat. This is used to create steam to run a steam turbine to generate electricity. In addition, systems are being developed that can store the heat or thermal energy so that steam can be made and electricity generated when the sun is not shining.
This is the kind of technology that can be part of the transition to a totally renewable economy. CSP systems are particularly useful in areas with excellent solar resource where it would be great to have the majority of electricity come from solar. In these situations, there is the potential for too much solar power produced during the day to overwhelm the grid and have nowhere to go, while at night there would no solar power available. The CSP systems with storage would solve that problem.
If you are interested in more details about CSP systems, there is a National Renewable Energy Laboratory web page dedicated to this topic. This is the link: http://energy.gov/eere/videos/energy-101-concentrating-solar-power
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