Solar towers generate energy by exploiting temperature differences between ground level and high elevations. A kilometer-high tower in Australia will produce as much energy as a small nuclear reactor, while a test project in Spain has produced up to 50 kW. A solar collector at the base creates a greenhouse effect, heating trapped air that rises up the hollow tower via turbines. Australia’s tower will cost $500 million, produce 200 MW, and power 200,000 homes while reducing greenhouse gases. Solar towers are a promising alternative to fossil fuels and nuclear power.
A solar tower is an environmentally friendly way of generating energy by exploiting the temperature differential between the air at ground level and the air at a significant elevation. A project due to be built in Australia as early as 2006 is a kilometer high and would produce as much energy as a small nuclear reactor. A test project in Spain is 195 meters high and has been capable of producing up to 50 kW of power.
At the base of a solar tower is a solar collector, a huge (~25,000 acres or 100 square kilometers) transparent plastic circular skirt that creates a greenhouse effect and heats the air trapped in the skirt. The solar tower is hollow, like a chimney, and extracts energy from the hot air by rapidly ascending to the top of the tower via turbines. The taller the tower, the more energy is extracted. The tower operates 24 hours a day because the underlying soil retains the heat absorbed during the day and continues to give it away at night.
Australia’s solar tower is expected to cost around $500 million and be the tallest man-made structure in the world, almost twice as tall as Toronto’s CN Tower. Its construction was allegedly undertaken by Melbourne-based EnviroMission Limited, with backing from the Australian government. The tower is estimated to produce 200 megawatts, enough electricity to power 200,000 homes, and keep nearly a million tons of greenhouse gases out of the atmosphere each year. A solar tower would be a huge landmark, visible up to 80 miles away. It requires a staff of only 15 technicians to operate.
The solar tower is perhaps the most impressive alternative proposed to fossil fuels or nuclear power. It would be an ideal stopgap measure to provide the human race with cheap energy until we develop fusion power, improve fission, find a way to deploy large grids of solar panels, or come up with some even better idea for stocking up on the energy we want. .
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