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The tower architecture that defines the PS20 plant is still fairly unique. This particular plant is 541 feet tall (about 54 stories if you picture it as a building), and uses 1,255 mirrors to laser focus sunlight to boil water, create steam and turn a turbine. Abengoa already has a similar, 10-megawatt tower in operation, and another 20-megawatt tower in the works. All of these structures are part of the envisioned Solucar complex slated to produce 300 megawatts by 2013. One megawatt of energy is enough to power about 800 households — and that’s a conservative estimate. All told, Solucar would deliver electricity to 240,000 homes.
Abengoa chose the tower model because solar thermal systems are actually cheaper to run that traditional photovoltaic arrays. They also generate more net power overall, giving the company a significant leg up.
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