What is a Solar Tower?
A solar tower is a device that converts solar energy (heat from the sun) into electricity. Solar towers are suitable for large-scale power generation. The Basic Component Parts of a Solar Tower Energy Plant * Solar Tower – The solar tower is simply a large structure with a boiler (a tank used to heat liquids) at the top. The boiler collects the heat from the sun. It is also referred to as the “central tower” or “power tower”. * Heliostats – These are movable mirrors that track the sun and reflect the sunlight at the top of the solar tower where the heat is collected. These mirrors move as the sun moves, so as to continuously reflect maximum sunlight toward the tower. * Heat Transfer Fluid – We use the term “heat transfer fluid” because not all solar towers use the same. Early solar towers used water to collect the heat from the sun. Some solar towers use liquid sodium. Whichever liquid is used, it is referred to as “heat transfer fluid.” * Heat Storage – Because we still want to genera
A solar tower is an environment-friendly way of generating power by exploiting the temperature differential between air at ground level and air at a significant elevation. One design slated to be built in Australia as early as 2006 is a kilometer tall and would produce as much energy as a small nuclear reactor. A proof-of-concept design in Spain is 195 meters tall and was able to produce as much as 50 kW of power. At the base of a solar tower is a solar collector – a huge (~25,000 acres or 100 square kilometers) transparent circular skirt made of plastic that creates a greenhouse effect and heats the air trapped in the skirt. The solar tower is hollow, like a chimney, and extracts energy from the hot air rising rapidly to the top of the tower using turbines. The taller the tower, the more energy is extracted. The tower works 24 hours a day because the ground underneath the tower retains heat absorbed during the day and continues to release it at night. The Australian solar tower is for
