Italian Contribution to CSP with Flat or Almost Flat Reflectors

Studies and experiments on burning mirrors and concentration of sunlight in Italy, in particular during the Renaissance period, are often cited in literature (Mirami, 1582; Bonaventura Cavalieri, 1632; Butti and Perlin, 1980). Lesser known, either nationally or internationally, are the Italian mathematicians, physicists, engineers, and scientists as well as their inventions and experiments aimed at producing steam and electricity from solar heat, carried out in the 19 th and 20 th centuries. This paper recalls two such inventors, who pioneered the CSP with flat or almost flat reflectors: Alessandro Battaglia (1842 – n.a.), whose work has been rediscovered by GSES in 2008, and Giovanni Francia (1911-1980), known as the father of solar thermoelectric plants, whose 100 th anniversary falls this year.