Environment

World's largest Solar Power Tower Plant now on-line

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1.291 mirrored heliostats and a 54 story high tower the World's largest solar power tower plant located near Seville in Spain in now on line generating 20 megawatts (MW) of electricity, enough to supply 10,000 homes.
1.291 mirrored heliostats and a 54 story high tower the World's largest solar power tower plant located near Seville in Spain in now on line generating 20 megawatts (MW) of electricity, enough to supply 10,000 homes.
1.291 mirrored heliostats and a 54 story high tower the World's largest solar power tower plant located near Seville in Spain in now on line generating 20 megawatts (MW) of electricity, enough to supply 10,000 homes.
1.291 mirrored heliostats and a 54 story high tower the World's largest solar power tower plant located near Seville in Spain in now on line generating 20 megawatts (MW) of electricity, enough to supply 10,000 homes.
1.291 mirrored heliostats and a 54 story high tower the World's largest solar power tower plant located near Seville in Spain in now on line generating 20 megawatts (MW) of electricity, enough to supply 10,000 homes.
1.291 mirrored heliostats and a 54 story high tower the World's largest solar power tower plant located near Seville in Spain in now on line generating 20 megawatts (MW) of electricity, enough to supply 10,000 homes.
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May 1, 2009 Made up of more than 1200 mirrored heliostats surrounding a huge 54 story high tower, the world's largest solar power tower plant is now on line near Seville in Spain. Developed by Spanish engineering company Abengoa, the PS20 plant generates 20 megawatts (MW) of electricity, enough to supply 10,000 homes. Concentrating solar thermal technology has been used in desert areas in Spain and the southwest U.S. for decades and is seeing a resurgence as utilities seek to reduce reliance on fossil fuels.

A solar thermal plant generates electricity in much the same way a conventional coal fired or nuclear power plant does, only the heat source is different. In fact up to 80% of the world's electricity is generated using the Rankine cycle to heat water into high pressure steam that drives a turbine, which in turn connects to an electrical generator. In a tower concentrator system the heat is provided by a field of heliostats, or mirrors, that focus sunlight onto a receiver held near the top of a tower.

At the PS20 plant each heliostat is 1291 ft2 (120 m 2), which gives the entire heliostat field a massive area of 155,000 m 2. Each heliostat tracks the sun throughout the day on two axes and concentrates the radiation onto a receiver located on the upper part of the 531 ft (162 m) tower. The receiver converts 92% of received sunlight into steam which is piped down to a turbine driven generator at the base of the tower.

The same site also has the world's second largest and first commercial power tower plant (PS20 is the second), PS10 which has been operational since 2007. PS10 features 624 mirrors pointed at a 377 ft (115 m) tower and generates 10 MW. The structures are part of an envisioned complex slated to produce 300 megawatts by 2013. When complete, the Solucar solar thermal power station will cover 800 hectares and deliver electricity to 240,000 homes. The PS20 plant brings Spain’s total solar capacity up to 3,000 MWs, making it a close second to the world’s leading solar producer Germany (with a capacity of close to 4,000 megawatts). Spain is the third largest producer of Wind Power in the world, behind the US and Germany, with 16,740 megawatts wind capacity installed at the end of 2008.

Paul Evans

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7 comments
Shaun Goh
Wow, largest in the world but only able to power 10,000 houses? I wonder if there's a way to convert solar power directly into electricity.
Anumakonda Jagadeesh
A Gigantic Solar Power Plant. It shows the adancement of solar energy in leaps and bounds.
Dr.A.Jagadeesh Nellore(AP),India
ET
\"I wonder if there\'s a way to convert solar power directly into electricity\" There is a device known as a photovoltaic panel. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Photovoltaics
Jared
It must be expensive to have 1200 tracking mirrors. Why not make fixed mirrors instead, and design the central element with an appropriate shape so that it intercepts all the reflected beams regardless of season or time of day?
Marco Pang
\"I wonder if there\'s a way to convert solar power directly into electricity\" Woah. Someone obviously doesn\'t know what a solar panel is.... Unless you are talking about transforming the electricity in the grid without changing it to heat first.
Edgar Walkowsky
The photovoltaic panel is more expensive than solar thermal technology for large scale energy production.
@Jared: The reason why the mirrors are tracking is that they need to focus the sunlight into a single point.
Burnerjack
Because land use and aquisition is a factor of consideration as to economic viability, I have often promoted this concept for use on commercial rooftops. The roof becomes shaded by the mirrors, the building owners have access to a painless revenue stream in the leasing of their fooftops. Furthermore, environmentalists and NIMBY\'s don\'t have to get excited (in a bad way). It may not be possible on the scale above, but MANY rooftops such as megamalls and large industrial parks could benefit, if only to eliminate their own power bill. Seems like a \'WIN/WIN \".