GIANT mirrors will blanket thousands of hectares of desert in California as part of the two largest solar farms in the world.
The farms will use 11-metre-wide dishes coated with an array of glass mirrors. Made by Stirling Energy Systems (SES) in Phoenix, Arizona, each dish will focus the sun’s rays onto a 750-kilogram engine containing metal piston cylinders filled with hydrogen.
As the gas heats to 720 掳C, it expands, driving the piston before flowing out as the piston drops down and cool gas flows in. This drives a generator, converting solar energy to electricity at around 30 per…
