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Concentration solar power (CSP) systems convert solar radiation to heat and use heat engines to convert the heat to electricity. The solar receiver over which the solar radiation is concentrated and converted to heat is the most important part of the CSP. To attain maximum efficiency, the receiver in the CSP systems needs to be coated with an efficient selective solar absorber coating. In recent years, a lot of research has been focused on solar selective coatings. This has resulted in the synthesis of novel coatings that have high thermal and chemical stability, long term durability, and excellent solar selectivity making them suitable for solar thermal applications. This report reviews various solar selective coatings based on transition metals and their compounds. Various failure mechanisms are discussed in detail along with suggested prevention methods. Several thermal stability and durability tests are reported with their benefits and limitations. The effect of long-term durability on the levelized cost of coating is also discussed. Finally, we list some excellent systems and explore different ways of improving the thermal stability for SSCs, thus providing a reference for the design and optimization of new SSCs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]