Concentrated solar power
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Concentrated solar power systems generate solar power by using mirrors or lenses to concentrate a large area of sunlight into a receiver. Electricity is generated when the concentrated light is converted to heat, which drives a heat engine connected to an electrical power generator or powers a thermochemical reaction.
A solar power tower at Crescent Dunes Solar Energy Project concentrating light via 10,000 mirrored heliostats spanning thirteen million sq ft (1.21 km2).
The three towers of the Ivanpah Solar Power Facility
Part of the 354 MW SEGS solar complex in northern San Bernardino County, California
Bird's eye view of Khi Solar One, South Africa
Solar Energy Generating Systems (SEGS) is a concentrated solar power plant in California, United States. With the combined capacity from three separate locations at 354 megawatt (MW), it was once the world's second largest solar thermal energy generating facility, until the commissioning of the even larger Ivanpah facility in 2014. It consisted of nine solar power plants in California's Mojave Desert, where insolation is among the best available in the United States.
The reflectors at Kramer Junction site facing the western sky to focus the late afternoon sunlight at the absorber tubes partially seen in the picture as bright white spots.