Images: Supersize solar power

This diagram shows how heat is turned into electricity at the Nevada Solar One plant, the first large-scale solar plant to go up since the 1980s.

Sunlight is focused on an oil that is turned into steam. The steam turns an electricity turbine and some of the water is recaptured. That is one of the drawbacks of solar thermal plants in the desert: they require water. They also don't work well in areas that are susceptible to frequent sand storms.

Photo by Acciona

Caption by Martin LaMonicaElsa