Thermal Solar Power Tower Light Up The Future

However, with ever increasing fuel prices, fear of major recession and an attempt to cut global carbon emissions, interest in thermal solar power towers has never been greater.

Why? Well, the energy in sunlight reaching the earth in just over an hour is the equivalent to the entire global energy consumption for a year. So as you can see, the potential for thermal solar power towers is virtually unlimited.

Solar thermal power is expected to nearly double every years over the next five years with the US and Spain leading the way.

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The largest thermal solar power tower complex in the world today is the Solar Electricity Generating Station in the Mojave Desert in California. It produces enough energy to power 100,000 homes.

Due to the success of this power plant, the US is planning at least a dozen more solar thermal stations.

Spain have just built a massive solar thermal station that generates enough energy to power over 150,000 homes. Due to this success, the Spanish government plan on building another 60 of these stations.

But it doesn't just stop there. In Europe, France, Greece, Italy, and Portugal are also planning on building massive solar power towers.

And around the world, countries such as Australia, Algeria, Egypt, Iran, Israel, Jordan, Mexico, Morocco, South Africa, and the United Arab Emirates are all getting in on the act.

And another interesting development is being mooted by the European Union. And that is to build these solar power stations in desert areas of North Africa and the Middle East.

Delivery of the electricity to Europe would be via direct current transmission cables across the Mediterranean.

So how do they work?

Well, in simple terms, solar thermal plants generate electricity using heat. Reflectors focus sunlight onto a fluid-filled vessel. The heat absorbed by the fluid is used to generate steam that drives a turbine to produce electricity.

Two big advantages over traditional power plants are that the electricity generation is green, clean and carbon-free. There are also no fuel costs as the sun is free.

Energy storage in the form of heat is also significantly cheaper than battery storage of electricity.

So, as you can see, the potential of these solar towers are staggering. But one concern I have is the damage it may cause to the habitat of wildlife. If these concerns can be overcome then we have a winner on our hands.

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