Islands in the sun

Shimmering and revolving beneath the relentless desert sun, the giant disc will look, from the air, like a visitor from another galaxy.

But though it may look like something from another world, the 80m diameter structure being assembled in the desert of Ras Al Khaimah (the northernmost of the United Arab Emirates) has a more down-to-earth purpose. It is, in fact, the first step in an audacious plan to bring low-cost solar power to the masses by placing giant, rotating 'solar islands' in the vast open spaces of the world's oceans and deserts.

They are the brainchild of Dr Thomas Hinderling, chief executive of Swiss R&D company the

(CSEM) — the facility, being constructed with $5m of UAE funding. This should be finished later this summer, when it will begin generating an expected 1GWh/year.

The device is based on the well understood concept of concentrating solar power (CSP) which uses mirrors or lenses to concentrate solar radiation on to pipes containing water which boils and can be used to spin turbines.