[Christ]

Originally Posted by jamesqf

At what cost in efficiency, though? I've always suspected that the people selling this kind of plant are banking on the fact that very few investors are familiar with thermodynamics.

Then consider their other disadvantages, such as their voracious need for land (which the promoters seem to get pretty much free from the government - and might not that be the intention?) and other scarce resources, locations far from point of use, requiring long transmission lines, etc.

The towers have heated surface area equivalent to it's entire structure. Much more surface area than just the few hundred sqft that it takes up on the ground. They're also basically clear, that I've seen, with a turbine on top. All the heat that rises must pass the turbine, which is connected to a generator. They don't lose efficiency from being hot, like solar panels do. In fact, the hotter they get, the better. The heat rising draws in cooler air from the bottom, repeating the process. Best of all, they don't really need the sun directly shining on them. As long as there is a temp differential, they will still produce something.