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Type of solar furnace with a tower receiving focused light / From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Solar power tower, also known as 'central tower' power plant is a type of concentrated solar power (CSP) power plant that uses a receiver positioned on the top of the tower to collect solar energy concentrated by means of solar field that consists of large number of mirrors, called heliostats.
It uses an array of flat, movable mirrors (called heliostats) to focus the sun's rays upon a collector tower (the target). Concentrating Solar Power (CSP) systems are seen as one viable solution for renewable, pollution-free energy.[1]
Early designs used these focused rays to heat water, and used the resulting steam to power a turbine. Newer designs using liquid sodium have been demonstrated, and systems using molten salts (40% potassium nitrate, 60% sodium nitrate) as the working fluids are now in operation. These working fluids have high heat capacity, which can be used to store the energy before using it to boil water to drive turbines. These designs also allow power to be generated when the sun is not shining.