Manzanares solar updraft tower
Chimenea solar de Manzanares
- Date
- 1982 · confidence high
- Place
- Manzanares, Ciudad Real, Castile-La Mancha, Spain
- Credited to
- Jörg Schlaich and Schlaich Bergermann Partner
- Field
- Matter & energy
What it is
A 50 kW prototype with a 195 m chimney surrounded by a transparent canopy that heats air and makes it rise to drive a turbine. It was the first solar updraft tower plant and ran for seven years.
The chimney collapsed in 1989 during a storm and was not rebuilt.
What it led to
- solar tower projects in Australia and China
- solar power without optical concentration
- study of convective flow in large structures