 Solar thermal collector, a solar thermal collector collects heat by absorbing sunlight. The term solar collector commonly refers to solar hot water panels, but may refer to installations such as solar parabolic troughs and solar towers, or basic installations such as solar air heaters. Concentrated solar power plants usually use the more complex collectors to generate electricity by heating a fluid to drive a turbine connected to an electrical generator. Simple collectors are typically used in residential and commercial buildings for space heating. The first solar thermal collector designed for building roofs was patented by William H. Godel and called the solar heat collector and radiator for building roof.