The solar power tower, also known as 'central tower' power plants or 'heliostat' power plants or power towers, is a type of solar furnace using a tower to receive the focused sunlight. It uses an array of flat, movable mirrors (called heliostats) to focus the sun's rays upon a collector tower (the target). Concentrated solar thermal is seen as one viable solution for renewable, pollution free energy.
Early designs used these focused rays to heat water, and used the resulting steam to power a turbine. Newer designs using liquid sodium have been demonstrated, and systems using molten salts (40% potassium nitrate, 60% sodium nitrate) as the working fluids are now in operation. These working fluids have high heat capacity, which can be used to store the energy before using it to boil water to drive turbines. These designs also allow power to be generated when the sun is not shining.
Read more about Solar Power Tower: Examples of Heliostat Power Plants, Cost, Design, Commercial Applications, Novel Applications
Other articles related to "solar power tower, tower, power, power tower, solar power towers, solar, solar power":
... A solar power tower consists of an array of dual-axis tracking reflectors (heliostats) that concentrate sunlight on a central receiver atop a tower the receiver contains a fluid deposit, which can consist of ... (773–1273 K (932–1832 °F)) and then used as a heat source for a power generation or energy storage system ... Power-tower development is less advanced than trough systems, but they offer higher efficiency and better energy storage capability ...
... The Pit Power Tower combines a Solar Power Tower and an Aero-electric Power Tower in a decommissioned open pit mine ... Traditional Solar Power Towers are constrained in size by the height of the tower and closer heliostats blocking the line of sight of outer heliostats to the receiver ... As Solar Power Towers commonly use steam to drive the turbines, and water tends to be scarce in regions with high solar energy, another advantage of open pits is that they tend to collect water, having been dug below ...
... Solar Thermal Power Stations Announced in Spain MW Name Location Coordinates Technology Notes 200 Andasol 4–7 Granada parabolic trough with heat storage 100 Solnova ...
... Abengoa Solar owns Europe's first commercially operating concentrating solar power plant, the 11 MW PS10 Solar Power Plant, that use the solar power tower technology, a form of concentrated ...
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“With the noise of the mourning of the Swattish nation!
Fallen is at length
Its tower of strength;
Its sun is dimmed ere it had nooned;
Dead lies the great Ahkoond,
The great Ahkoond of Swat
Is not!”
—George Thomas Lanigan (1845–1886)
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