Can you say Solana? Sounds like the name of a space ship, but it's actually Spanish for "sunny place." It's also the name of what will be one of the world's largest solar energy farms, to be built near not-so-shady Phoenix, Arizona by the year 2011.
The plant will cover about 1,900 acres of land (about three square miles) with what are called parabolic trough reflectors, which look a lot like giant square-shaped satellite dishes.
The thick glass mirrors in the troughs will collect sunlight and reflect it like huge magnifying glasses into a receiver, where it heats a synthetic type of energy-carrying oil. The sunlight heats the oil to a blazing temperature of about 725 degrees Fahrenheit. The oil then travels through pipes to heat exchangers which convert the energy first to high-pressure steam, which powers a turbine that creates electricity.
When operating at full power, Solana will be able to provide clean electrical power to about 70,000 homes.
Now that's hot!
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(Solana farm illustration from APS)
