Aerial view of solar-thermal power plant - Vidéos

Power tower plants (also known as 'central tower' power plants or 'heliostat' power plants) capture and focus the sun's thermal energy with thousands of tracking mirrors (called heliostats) in roughly a two square mile field. A tower resides in the center of the heliostat field. The heliostats focus concentrated sunlight on a receiver which sits on top of the tower. This heats steam (or another medium), which in turn a standard turbine to generate electricity.