First of all, this type of solar power plant is composed of heliostats. The heliostat is controlled by a computer and rotates with the sun to reflect the day's sunlight to the center point. The heliostat has a small footprint, can be placed separately, and can adapt to the terrain without a deep foundation. The power plant includes hundreds of heliostats, which can be connected to each other via WIFI to improve efficiency, and concentrate sunlight reflections on a large heat exchanger called a receiver on the top of the tower. In the receiver, the molten salt fluid can absorb the heat collected in the sunlight through the outer wall of the pipe. In this technology, molten salt can be heated from 500 degrees Fahrenheit to over 1000 degrees Fahrenheit. Because molten salt can maintain a wide operating temperature range in the molten state, allowing the system to achieve excellent and safe energy absorption and storage under low pressure conditions, it is an ideal heat-absorbing medium. After passing through the heat absorber, the molten salt flows down the pipe in the tower and then enters the heat storage tank. After that, the energy is stored in the form of high-temperature molten salt for emergencies. The advantage of this technology is that liquid molten salt can not only collect energy, but also separate energy collection from power generation.
Briefly speaking, solar thermal power generation is divided into three links, the heat collection link, the use of solar energy to heat the heat-conducting medium, and finally the heat-conducting medium drives the engine to generate electricity. Correspondingly, for each link, there are different methods for scientific and continuous attempts to form the optimal design, such as: the heat collection link mainly has four types: trough, tower, dish, and Nefert; heat conduction working fluid Generally, water, mineral oil or molten salt is used; finally, electricity can be generated through steam Rankine cycle, CO2 Brayton cycle or Stirling engine.