Modern Marvels had segment on green power. There’s a plan in Australia to build an even larger solar plant based on heat. The difference in projects is that instead of mirrors, they build a large concrete tube(stack) Skyscrapper tall, and put some sort of polymer skirt around the base a hundred feet or so above the ground, spread out far and wide. The sun heats the trapped air under the skirt and is directed towards the base of the stack (the skirt is higher at the base of the stack than it is towards the outer edges) where there are wind generators. Convection takes care of the rest.
"Modern Marvels had segment on green power. There’s a plan in Australia to build an even larger solar plant based on heat. The difference in projects is that instead of mirrors, they build a large concrete tube(stack) Skyscrapper tall, and put some sort of polymer skirt around the base a hundred feet or so above the ground, spread out far and wide. The sun heats the trapped air under the skirt and is directed towards the base of the stack (the skirt is higher at the base of the stack than it is towards the outer edges) where there are wind generators. Convection takes care of the rest.Seems these two concepts could be combined. Might be interesting to see what the theoretical efficiencies could be.
Also note that in the picture above, there's a lot of room between the mirrors. Some agricultural products not requiring direct sunlight could still be grown.