The parabolic dish development activities being undertaken within the private sector of the United States were addressed. The primary emphasis of these non-DOE-sponsored activities is the development of commercial products that can penetrate the market in the near term. The exchange of information between these activities and the complementary DOE-sponsored work directed toward developing advancements in technology is considered to be of major importance. The experiences and problems encountered in the private sector serve as inputs that will help guide in the planning of the DOE program. In turn, a principal objective of the DOE program is the transfer findings of its technological development activities to the private sector. Activities in the private are characterized by their diversity in terms of both product design and marketing approach. The differences in the design concepts and the sizes of the dish concentrators under development are particularly noteworthy
