Can solar power be used to power steam turbines?

The solar power tower, also known as 'central tower' power plants or 'heliostat' power plants or power towers, is a type of solar furnace using a tower to receive the focused sunlight. It uses an array of flat, movable mirrors (called heliostats) to focus the sun's rays upon a collector tower (the target). read more

Early designs used these focused rays to heat water, and used the resulting steam to power a turbine. Newer designs using liquid sodium have been demonstrated, and systems using molten salts (40% potassium nitrate, 60% sodium nitrate) as the working fluids are now in operation. read more

Steam produced from solar heated water can power the blades of a turbine while producing much less pollution than methods of steam production dependent on fossil fuels. The obstacle to overcome with a solar steam turbine is getting the water hot enough to vaporize. read more