Twice the height of the Empire State - massive solar tower for AZ
Really?  Very cool idea, but some of the claims sound downright ridiculous.<p>First, the zero maintenance claim that is touted at least 3 times by the article seems suspicious.  You can't really leave anything out in the desert sun and not have to maintain or replace it.  Sun will disintegrate a lot of material, not to mention wind and sand.  Anybody have any info or insight into what material they are using to create the "greenhouse"?<p>Additionally, the claim that <i>"In fact, because you're creating a greenhouse underneath, it actually turns out to be remarkably good for growing vegetation under there."</i> does not seem to jibe at all with the claimed temperatures ("add in the greenhouse effect and you've got a temperature under your collector somewhere around 80-90 degrees (176-194 F)").  I'm not sure I'm familiar with any vegetation that grows in near 200 degree temperatures.<p>Does anyone have any actual experience with this kind of tech?