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Introducing engineering

Completion requirements
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Figure 94 comprises two photographs labelled 'a' and 'b'. Photograph 'a' is a high aerial view of a solar thermal tower scheme. The view must be from a great height because of the sheer size of the scheme i.e. 2471 acres. The scheme consists of two fields of mirrors that each direct sunlight to a receiver contained in a tower at the side of the field. One tower is higher than the other at about 160 metres and has a much larger field of over 1,000 mirrors. The smaller tower and field look to be about three quarters this size.

Photograph 'b' is a ground level view of a field of parabolic trough collectors. The field is vast with over a 1,000 of these collectors arranged in rows. Each collector is 3.7 metres long and has a reflective surface of 5 square metres. The cross section of the reflective surface is curved, presumably a parabola, and the trough is tilted towards the sun.

 5.7 Types of renewable energy