A solar furnace is a structure that uses concentrated solar power to produce high temperatures, usually for industry. Parabolic mirrors or heliostats concentrate light (Insolation) onto a focal point. The temperature at the focal point may reach 3,500 °C (6,330 °F), and this heat can be used to generate electricity, melt steel, make hydrogen fuel or nanomaterials.
The solar furnace at Odeillo in the Pyrénées-Orientales in France can reach temperatures of 3,500 °C (6,330 °F).
Paella being cooked with a solar cooker
A parabolic reflector is a reflective surface used to collect or project energy such as light, sound, or radio waves. Its shape is part of a circular paraboloid, that is, the surface generated by a parabola revolving around its axis. The parabolic reflector transforms an incoming plane wave travelling along the axis into a spherical wave converging toward the focus. Conversely, a spherical wave generated by a point source placed in the focus is reflected into a plane wave propagating as a collimated beam along the axis.
One of the world's largest solar parabolic dishes at the Ben-Gurion National Solar Energy Center in Israel
Off-axis satellite dish
Antennas of the Atacama Large Millimeter Array on the Chajnantor Plateau
Lighting the Olympic Flame with a parabolic reflector