Solar Farm

Solar Farm

Another picture taken with an extension tube. This time even more macro than before. Amazingly, this shot was hand held. Thanks to the strong sunlight, but also, thanks to it, it blown the details on the tip of the flower. The title is not referring to how much this little flower amazingly needs to absorb the sunlight to produce this picture. Rather, it's reminds me again of a solar farm where all the little "leaves" acts as the mirror to shine the sunlight to the center core where water is heated into steam in Spain.

Europe's first commercial concentrating PS10 solar power tower is operating near the sunny southern Spanish city of Seville. The 11 megawatt solar power tower produces electricity with 624 large movable mirrors called heliostats.^[1] The mirrors were delivered by Abengoa, the solar receiver was designed and built by Tecnical-Tecnicas Reunidas, a Spanish Engineering Company; and the Solar Tower was designed and built by ALTAC ^[2], another Spanish Engineering and Construction Company.

Each of the mirrors has a surface measuring 120 square meters (1,292 square feet) that concentrates the Sun's rays to the top of a 115 meter (377 foot) high, 35-story tower where a solar receiver and a steam turbine are located. The turbine drives a generator, producing electricity.^[1] This power is three times more expensive than power from conventional sources, but prices will fall, as they have with wind power, as the technologies develop. ^[3]

(courtesy of wikipedia.com)