Science 123 Please read the following script from the Earth and Sky radio progra

Question

Science 123

Please read the following script from the Earth and Sky radio program. Explain how the law of reflection applies in this situation.

Mark Mehos describes solar power towers

By Lindsay Patterson Oct 05, 2009

In the spring of 2009, the world’s biggest solar power tower – one that helps convert sunlight into electricity – launched operations near Seville, Spain. Mark Mehos, an expert in a technology called Concentrating Solar Power – or CSP – works at the National Renewable Energy Laboratory. He described the futuristic design of a solar power tower.

Mark Mehos: Imagine a scaffolding, a hundred meters high, that has a black circular receiver on top of that. Imagine around that central receiver you have a field of mirrors, flat mirrors, all of those mirrors basically pointing at this central receiver on top of this tall tower.

The newly launched tower in Spain, called PS20, has over 1,200 mounted mirrors that follow the sun’s path throughout the day.

Mark Mehos: You can imagine the sunlight striking these mirrors, redirecting that sunlight to this tall tower.

Mehos said the sunlight forms an intense white beam between the mirrors and the tower, and creates very high temperatures at the central receiver.

Mark Mehos: That’s the sunlight, the radiation, transferring before it’s converted into thermal energy.

This thermal energy – or heat – powers a steam turbine in order to generate electricity. The thermal energy can be stored for later use. Mehos said the solar industry continues to develop better materials and designs to harness the sun’s energy.

The solar power tower is one variation of what’s called Concentrating Solar Power (CSP) technology:

Mark Mehos: Concentrating Solar Power, or what we call CSP, is a technology that takes the energy from the sun, it converts that energy to thermal energy or high temperatures, and takes those high temperatures to run a typical turbine to generate power.

Mehos said solar power tower technology is newer than other types of CSP.

Mark Mehos: Solar power tower technology uses different types of optics. Those are less commercial, although demonstration plants have been built, and we’re seeing more companies start to enter that space.

Abengoa Solar, the company that built the PS20, also operates an earlier commercial plant called PS10, and an experimental, high-temperature plant called Eureka.

Explanation / Answer

Solar power tower named PS10 and PS20.They are surrounded by a field of angled mirrors known as heliostats , which reflects solar radiation on to a receiver located at the top of the tower.This reflected sunlight illuminates dust and water vapour in the air, resulting the glowing rays.These heliostats reflects the sunlight to the receiver and their heat produces steam ,which is used to power a turbine.The turbine drives a generator , producing electricity.

Here law of reflection and refraction are applicable.

Law of reflection : The incident ray and reflected ray lie in a plane containing the incident normal and this normal bisects the angle between the two rays.

Components : 1) Concentrating mirrors

2) Absorber within a Receiver

3)Heliostats : Flat or slightly curved mirrors that takes the sun's light and reflects on receiver or concentrators.

Here the law of reflection is applied at the mirrors that is heliostats. Incident ray is sun's rays and reflected rays are those reflected to the tower.

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