Concentrated solar energy applications in materials science and metallurgy

•Solar energy has a great potential in high temperature applications when concentrated.•The couple Zn-Solar energy seems to be the most promising field for concentrated solar energy.•Concentrated solar energy has a great potential in the treatment of high-Fe wastes.•Concentrated solar energy could be competitive with high-energy technologies (laser, plasma, etc.).•The lack of pilot or industrial scale projects denotates few continuity in the researches. New energy sources have been researched with the objective of achieving a reduction in the emissions of greenhouse gases as well as other polluting gases. Solar energy is one of the options as when properly concentrated offers a great potential in high temperature applications. This paper offers a review on all fields connected with materials where concentrated solar energy has been applied. These applications include metallurgy, materials processing (welding and cladding; surface treatments; coatings and surface hardening; and, powder metallurgy), and non-metallic materials (ceramics, fullerenes, carbon nanotubes, and production of lime).