FACTOID # 47: Danish workers strike 150 times more than their German neighbours.
 
 Home   Encyclopedia   Statistics   Countries A-Z   Flags   Maps   Education   Forum   FAQ   About 
 
WHAT'S NEW
RECENT ARTICLES
More Recent Articles »
 

FACTS & STATISTICS    Simple view

  1. Select countries to view: (hold down Control key and click to select several)

     

     

    Compare:

     

     

  1. Select fact or statistic: (* = graphable)

     

     

     

  2. (OPTIONAL) Compare to statistic: (both need to be graphable)

     

     

     

  3. View result as:

     

       
(OR) SEARCH ALL encyclopedia, stats & forums:   

Encyclopedia > Solar power tower
The solar power tower at Solar Two in California
The solar power tower at Solar Two in California

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). The high energy at this point of concentrated sunlight is transferred to a substance that can store the heat for later use. The most recent heat transfer material that has been successfully demonstrated is liquid sodium. Sodium is a metal with a high heat capacity, allowing that energy to be stored and drawn off throughout the evening. That energy can, in turn, be used to boil water for use in steam turbines. Water had originally been used as a heat transfer medium in earlier power tower versions (where the resultant steam was used to power a turbine). This system did not allow for power generation during the evening. Image File history File links Download high resolution version (1468x1952, 2072 KB) Description: Solar Two in Daggett, CA. It was a 10-MW solar thermal electric power plant. ... Image File history File links Download high resolution version (1468x1952, 2072 KB) Description: Solar Two in Daggett, CA. It was a 10-MW solar thermal electric power plant. ... Solar One is a pilot solar-thermal project in the Mojave Desert near Barstow, California. ... Official language(s) English Capital Sacramento Largest city Los Angeles Largest metro area Greater Los Angeles Area  Ranked 3rd  - Total 158,302 sq mi (410,000 km²)  - Width 250 miles (400 km)  - Length 770 miles (1,240 km)  - % water 4. ... A Heliostat is a device that tracks the movement of the sun. ... solar oven A solar oven or solar furnace is a way of harnessing the suns power to cook food. ... For sodium in the diet, see Edible salt. ... It has been suggested that this article be split into articles entitled steam and water vapor, accessible from a disambiguation page. ... A Siemens steam turbine with the case opened. ... Itaipu Dam is a hydroelectric generating station Electricity generation is the first process in the delivery of electricity to consumers. ...


Examples of heliostat based power plants were the 10 MWe Solar One and Solar Two demonstration projects in the Mojave Desert, which have now been decommissioned. The 15 MW Solar Tres Power Tower in Spain builds on these projects. In Spain the 11 MW PS10 solar power tower was recentely completed. In South Africa, a solar power plant is planned with 4000 to 5000 heliostat mirrors, each having an area of 140 m².[1] Solar One is a pilot solar-thermal project in the Mojave Desert near Barstow, California. ... Solar One is a pilot solar-thermal project in the Mojave Desert near Barstow, California. ... Aerial view of the Solar Two facility. ... Europes first commercial concentrating PS10 solar power tower is operating near the sunny southern Spanish city of Seville. ...


An alternative design is a pyramid shaped structure called solar pyramid, which works by drawing in air, heating it with solar energy and moving it through turbines to generate electricty. Currently India is building such pyramids.[2]

Contents

See also

Energy Portal

Image File history File links Portal. ...

Solar furnaces

solar oven A solar oven or solar furnace is a way of harnessing the suns power to cook food. ... Solar One is a pilot solar-thermal project in the Mojave Desert near Barstow, California. ... Nevada Solar One is the third largest solar power plant in the world, generating 64MW, as of June 2007. ... This article or section does not adequately cite its references or sources. ...

Related concepts

Solar thermal energy is a technology for harnessing solar power for practical applications from solar heating to electrical power generation. ... Schematic of a Solar updraft tower This article is about a type of power plant. ... Sharav Sluice Energy Tower An energy tower is a method for producing electrical power for consumer consumption, the brainchild of Dr. Phillip Carlson, which has been expanded upon by Professor Dan Zaslavsky. ...

References

  1. ^ 100 MW Solar Thermal Electric Project in South Africa
  2. ^ Solar Pyramids

External links


  Results from FactBites:
 
SOLAR POWER (5390 words)
Solar design is the use of architectural features to replace the use of grid electricity and fossil fuels with the use of solar energy and decrease the energy needed in a home or building with insulation and efficient lighting and appliances.
Solar heating systems are generally composed of solar thermal collectors, a fluid system to move the heat from the collector to its point of usage, and a reservoir to stock the heat for subsequent use.
Solar cells, also referred to as photovoltaic cells, are devices or banks of devices that use the photovoltaic effect of semiconductors to generate electricity directly from sunlight.
Sandia National Laboratories - Solar Thermal Designated User Facilities (435 words)
Power towers can be designed with annual capacity factors up to 60 percent, and as high as 80 percent in summer when the days are longer.
A solar power tower's high capacity factors are achieved by building the solar portion of the plant with extra heliostats so that during daylight, sufficient energy is collected to power the turbine, while extra energy can be put into the thermal storage system.
The dispatchability of a solar power tower - its ability to deliver electricity on demand - is illustrated above, where three different parameters are plotted against time of day: the intensity of sunlight (insolation), the amount of energy stored in the hot-salt tank, and the output power from the turbine generator.
  More results at FactBites »


 

COMMENTARY     


Share your thoughts, questions and commentary here
Your name
Your comments
Please enter the 5-letter protection code

Want to know more?
Search encyclopedia, statistics and forums:

 


Lesson Plans | Student Area | Student FAQ | Reviews | Press Releases |  Feeds | Contact
The Wikipedia article included on this page is licensed under the GFDL.
Images may be subject to relevant owners' copyright.
All other elements are (c) copyright NationMaster.com 2003-5. All Rights Reserved.
Usage implies agreement with terms.