Yes, it may seem like the modernistic version of Nazca patterns, but believe me when I say the above conception transcends through its glorious aesthetics, to make its mark on the practical side of affairs. The exquisite spiraling and concentric circular pattern spreading over the vast expanse of area in actuality is the world’s first solar power station that generates electricity at night.
Named as the Gemasolar Plant, this ingeniously and rather scrupulously conceived £260million ($425 million) power station is actually a collaborative effort by Abu Dhabi energy company Masdar and a branch of Spanish engineering firm SENER called Torresol Energy. Located near Seville in southern Spain, the plant spreads over an area of 185 acres. Comprising of a whopping 2,650 panels, the mirrors project the incoming sunlight (around 95 percent) onto the conspicuously large receiver located at the center.
But that’s not all; the real innovative measure in this solar plant ironically comes during the night. Incorporated with salt tanks, heat up to 900 degrees centigrade is used to warm up such tanks, and the resultant steam power is used to run the plant turbines. The tanks can operate at around 15 hours per day, thus in the process covering the night time and over period cloudy days. Moreover, the sunny weather of southern Spain rather sustains the solar energy during most of the yearly mornings. This allows the plant to generate clean and green electricity at an estimated 270 days per year, much is substantially more (3 times more) than other renewable solar projects. According to the companies, the capacity for this plant is 10 GWh/year, which can power around 25,000 Spanish dwellings.
Source: DailyMail
