You'll learn a lot from this video (2min 42sec) in which shows how Intense Solar Power Melts a Brick. Sir Charles uses a beam of concentrated sunlight to melt a brick.
A Simple High Efficiency Solar Furnace - Capturing and Concentrating Solar Energy.
"What we're seeing is sunlight melting a brick. This is 1.2 KiloWatts of focused sunlight which is being concentrated by a recycled fresnel lens that came off the front of a big screen television.
"This much energy in that small space is sufficient to melt rock, boil steel, melt copper, and destroy many materials on contact. The energy density of this light is greater than many of the 'Star Wars' weapons that we've heard about. As the sun moves across the sky the track of this light moves across the surface of the brick burning a path of glass into its surface..."
