The PS10 Solar Power Plant (Spanish: Planta Solar 10), is a solar mirror farm. It is the world’s first commercial concentrating solar power tower operating near Seville, in Andalusia, Spain. The 11 megawatt (MW) solar power tower produces electricity with 624 large movable mirrors called heliostats.^[2] It took four years to build and so far cost €35 million (US$46 million).^[3] PS10 produces about 23,400 megawatt-hours (MW·h) per year, for which it receives €271 (US$360) per MW·h under its power purchase agreement; equating to a revenue of €6.3 million per year.^[4]

A solar thermal collector is a solar collector designed to collect heat by absorbing sunlight. A collector is a device for converting the energy in sunlight, or solar radiation, into a more usable or storable form. This energy is in the form ofelectromagnetic radiation from the infrared (long) to the ultraviolet (short) wavelengths. The quantity of solar energy striking the Earth’s surface averages about 1,000 watts per square meter under clear skies, depending upon weather conditions, location, and orientation of the surface.

The term solar collector refers to solar hot water panels, but may also refer to more complex installations such as solar parabolic apparatus, solar troughs, and solar towers; or less complex installations such as solar air heat. Solar power plants usually use the more complex collectors to generate electricity by heating water to produce steam which drives aturbine connected to an electrical generator. The less complex collectors are typically used in residential and commercial buildings for supplemental space heating. perpendicular to the sun’s rays.

There are different types of solar collectors on buildings.

A solar panel (also solar module, photovoltaic module or photovoltaic panel) is a packaged, connected assembly of photovoltaic cells. The solar panel can be used as a component of a larger photovoltaic system to generate and supply electricity in commercial and residential applications. Each panel is rated by its DC output power under standard test conditions, and typically ranges from 100 to 320 watts. The efficiency of a panel determines the area of a panel given the same rated output – an 8% efficient 230 watt panel will have twice the area of a 16% efficient 230 watt panel. Because a single solar panel can produce only a limited amount of power, most installations contain multiple panels. Aphotovoltaic system typically includes an array of solar panels, an inverter, and sometimes a battery and orsolar tracker and interconnection wiring.

Source: Solar panel – Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia