Photo Gallery Solar Dreams
The Desertec initiative plans to meet Europe's energy needs with solar power from the Sahara Desert. The PS20 in Andalusia, the world's largest solar power tower, generates enough electricity for 10,000 households.
The Desertec project was officially launched in July 2009. The consortium includes Siemens, Munich Re, Deutsche Bank, RWE and E.on, among other companies.
The dish/Stirling system is one kind of solar thermal power plant.
Solar power towers have a spectacular design where an array of mirrors focuses the sun's rays on an absorber. This one is in the Mojave Desert in California.
A research solar thermal power plant in Jülich, Germany. The Desertec project could provide Europe with 700 terawatt hours of energy a year.
A plant in the Negev Desert in Israel: "The growth curve for solar technology is almost identical to that for wind energy, except that it's happening 10 years later," says Frank Mastiaux, CEO of E.on Climate & Renewables.
The solar thermal power plant Nevada Solar One near Boulder City in Colorado.
The Andasol 1 plant in Granada, Spain. The plants operate according to a principle that the Egyptians began using 100 years ago: Parabolic troughs made of mirrors produce steam, which drives water pumps. Photo: Solar Millennium AG/ddp
The Plataforma Solar research facility in Almeria, Spain.
