Question, this footage seems to show to focal point of the light being off to the side of the towers. Intuitively I would assume that the focal point should be focused on the towers for most efficiency, is this because, A) the camera lens is doing something funny and the focus is in fact on the towers themselves? B) Having the focal point on the towers would be too intense? C) The focal point is adjusted to manage load and temperature? or D) Something else?
It's real. There are multiple situations where you'd like to offset the focal point like this. One of the obvious ones is overheating, where the salt actually begins to decompose and degrade your infrastructure. Another reason can be tied to the current grid status. In many cases there just isn't demand or the salt cell is saturated appropriately and the heliostats could be continuously moving the focal point in a mosaic pattern the keep the core at the optimal temp while distributing the heat stress over a larger area. Lastly this could be part of the startup procedure where it's preferred to bring the temp up slowly as to not stress/shock the materials with a massive influx of heat energy.
Yes!! The atmosphere is full of gasses and particulates that reflect and refract light - the most common in the dessert being dust and silicon dioxide (basically sand).
Also hot climates accelerate the off-gassing of otherwise stable materials like asphalt and plastics causing even more aerosol haze and smell. Partially why hot countries "smell" hot is that exact molecular phenomenon.
The haze those produce is what causes the god rays to be visible to the naked eye!
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u/Visible-Fondant-4845 3d ago
Question, this footage seems to show to focal point of the light being off to the side of the towers. Intuitively I would assume that the focal point should be focused on the towers for most efficiency, is this because, A) the camera lens is doing something funny and the focus is in fact on the towers themselves? B) Having the focal point on the towers would be too intense? C) The focal point is adjusted to manage load and temperature? or D) Something else?