Post navigation

{"title":"Desert Sun: Morocco's Noor and the Limits of Big Solar","content":"On a high plateau beneath the Atlas Mountains, near the Sahara’s edge, the Moroccan city of Ouarzazate is home to Noor — one of the world’s largest solar power complexes. Spread across nearly 500 hectares, Noor produces enough electricity to supply more than a million homes, but it does so with concentrated solar power rather than conventional rooftop panels. Two million mirrors focus sunlight onto a central receiver atop a 247-meter tower; the concentrated rays heat molten salt to about 600 °C (1,112 °F). That heat generates steam to run turbines and, critically, can be stored to keep producing electricity hours after sunset.

back to top