Saturday, May 5, 2007

Spanish Tower Draws Solar Energy



It looks like something out of a sci-fi movie. Six hundred mirrors reflecting sunlight onto a massive 40-story tall tower out in the Andalusian countryside. Yet as eerie as it looks, this is Europe's first commercial solar power plant being operated by a company called Solucar. The structure generates 11 Megawatts of electricity—enough power for 6,000 homes. Here's how it works.



The 600 mirrors beam sunlight at the tower, which converts the solar energy into steam. The steam is stored in tanks and used to drive turbines, and before you know it you're powering 6,000 homes. Overall, this is super cool and one lucky BBC reporter even got a tour of the tower.

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