Power tower is a type of concentrating solar thermal (CST) power system that concentrates solar radiation from a large field of mirrors, called heliostats, onto a central receiver located on a tower. The heliostats are computer-controlled and track the sun’s movement to reflect and focus the sunlight onto the receiver. The receiver absorbs the concentrated sunlight and converts it into thermal energy, which is used to heat a working fluid, typically molten salt, to high temperatures of up to 1,000°C. The hot molten salt is then used to generate steam, which drives a conventional steam turbine to produce electricity. Power towers have the potential to achieve higher temperatures and therefore greater energy conversion efficiency compared to other CST systems such as parabolic troughs.
