Spain's solar power plant

When referring to solar energy, people often think of small photovoltaic panels placed on the roofs of environmentally friendly homes and only generate enough electricity to run a toaster. But the future of solar energy may be much more scalable.

The first plant (right) generates 11 megawatts of electricity, the next new plant will generate 20 megawatts of electricity - Photo: AFP

Indeed, Socular currently has two solar power plants (as in the picture) deployed around two towers. The first tower, named PS20, is currently under construction. The smaller tower, called PS10, supplied electricity to the local electricity network.

Both buildings take advantage of Seville's burning heat (one of the hottest places in continental Europe) to create a heat that makes the water boil through a quartz window, emitting enough steam to make a spin. series of turbines. About 92% of the sun's heat is directly converted into electricity.

The amount of energy generated by such plants can be so strong that it is used to extract hydrogen gas from water to run environmentally friendly cars.

In fact, PS10 has 624 solar ray mirrors to generate 11 megawatt electricity, enough for about 5,500 households. PS20 has 1,255 solar rays and will generate up to 20 megawatts of electricity when fully operational in 2013.

Source: AFP