Writer: H M Remi

On the border of Tengger Desert, namely the desert of the boundless sky, there stands Dunhuang, once a frontier garrison on the Silk Road. And there blooms a glittering sunflower made of 12,000 gigantic mirrors (at the size of 115m² each) and a tower 260 metres tall, generating electricity around the clock. This power plant is so enormous that you can see it clearly from 10 kilometres away.

Dunhuang’s average annual sunshine reaches 3,246 hours, making it a perfect spot for China to build the largest concentrating solar-thermal power (CSP) station in the country, nicknamed “The Desert Sunflower”.

The CSP technology works differently from photovoltaics used in solar panels. It uses heliostats (i.e. computer-controlled mirrors or lenses) to track the sun’s movement and reflect sunlight to a receiver (i.e. the tower). The receiver will convert the concentrated light into thermal energy to generate electricity with its steam-power system. Meanwhile, the molten salt stored at the bottom of the tower will save the excessive heat for generating power during nighttime, enabling the station to be productive constantly.

The Dunhuang’s Desert Flower project effectively reduces 350 thousand tons of carbon dioxide emissions annually, equivalent to 4,000 hectares of forestation of environmental benefits, setting a record in renewable energy development for China.

In the following article, we will introduce how solar energy plants help improve the life quality for desert citizens, humans and animals.

Sources:
https://kknews.cc/zh-hk/news/q9oky8g.html
https://www.energy.gov/eere/solar/concentrating-solar-thermal-power-basics

Image Source:
https://www.chinadaily.com.cn/a/201901/08/WS5c3408aba31068606745f714.html