Editing Solar updraft tower (section)

{{Short description|Thermal convection power plant}}
{{About|a type of power plant|other uses|Solar tower (disambiguation)}}
[[File:Solar updraft tower.svg|thumb|upright=1.2|Schematic presentation of a solar updraft tower]]

The '''solar updraft tower''' ('''SUT''') is a design concept for a [[renewable energy|renewable-energy]] [[power plant]] for generating electricity from low temperature solar heat. Sunshine heats the air beneath a very wide greenhouse-like roofed collector structure surrounding the central base of a very tall [[chimney]] tower. The resulting [[convection]] causes a hot air updraft in the tower by the [[chimney effect]]. This airflow drives [[wind turbine]]s, placed in the chimney updraft or around the chimney base, to produce [[electricity]].

As of mid 2018, although several prototype models have been built, no full-scale practical units are in operation. Scaled-up versions of demonstration models are planned to generate significant power. They may also allow development of other applications, such as to agriculture or horticulture, to water extraction or distillation, or to remediate urban [[air pollution]].{{Citation needed|date=March 2024}}.

Commercial investment may have been discouraged by the high initial cost of building a very large novel structure, the large land area required, and the risk of investment.<ref name="news.nationalgeographic.com">{{cite web | url=https://www.nationalgeographic.com/history/article/140416-solar-updraft-towers-convert-hot-air-to-energy | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210502105344/https://www.nationalgeographic.com/history/article/140416-solar-updraft-towers-convert-hot-air-to-energy | url-status=dead | archive-date=May 2, 2021 | title=Solar Chimneys Can Convert Hot Air to Energy, but is Funding a Mirage? | website=[[National Geographic Society]] | date=17 April 2014 |last1=Grose |first1=Thomas K.}}</ref> A few prototypes have been built<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Arzpeyma |first1=Mazdak |last2=Mekhilef |first2=Saad |last3=Newaz |first3=Kazi Md. Salim |last4=Horan |first4=Ben |last5=Seyedmahmoudian |first5=Mehdi |last6=Akram |first6=Naveed |last7=Stojcevski |first7=Alex |title=Solar chimney power plant and its correlation with ambient wind effect |journal=Journal of Thermal Analysis and Calorimetry |date=July 2020 |volume=141 |issue=2 |pages=649–668 |doi=10.1007/s10973-019-09065-z }}</ref> in Spain in 1981, in Iran in 2011, and in China in 2010 (see below), and projects were proposed for parts of Africa, the US and Australia.

In 2014, [[National Geographic]] published a popular update, including an interview with an informed engineering proponent. A solar updraft tower power plant can generate electricity from the low temperature atmospheric heat gradient between ground or surface level and structurally reachable altitude. Functional or mechanical feasibility is now less of an issue than capitalisation.<ref name="news.nationalgeographic.com"/>  A comprehensive review of theoretical and experimental aspects of ''solar updraft tower power plant'' (SUTPP) development is available, recommending commercial development.<ref>{{cite journal |doi=10.1016/j.solener.2014.06.029 |title=Solar updraft tower power generation |journal=Solar Energy |volume=128 |pages=95–125 |year=2016 |last1=Zhou |first1=Xinping |last2=Xu |first2=Yangyang |bibcode=2016SoEn..128...95Z }}</ref>  A review of progress in demonstration and modelled data was presented in 2020 by Dogan Eyrener, and included in publication of proceedings.<ref>{{cite book |doi=10.1007/978-3-030-40738-4 |title=Accelerating the Transition to a 100% Renewable Energy Era |series=Lecture Notes in Energy |date=2020 |volume=74 |isbn=978-3-030-40737-7 |editor1-first=Tanay Sıdkı |editor1-last=Uyar }}{{page needed|date=July 2024}}</ref> A review of combined technologies to address intermittency of power output, of hybrid solar updraft tower with complementary technologies was published in 2022.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Ahmed |first1=Omer K. |last2=Algburi |first2=Sameer |last3=Ali |first3=Zaid H. |last4=Ahmed |first4=Amer K. |last5=Shubat |first5=Hawazen N. |title=Hybrid solar chimneys: A comprehensive review |journal=Energy Reports |date=November 2022 |volume=8 |pages=438–460 |doi=10.1016/j.egyr.2021.12.007 |doi-access=free }}</ref> Combined, multiple or hybrid technologies include combined updraft-downdraft towers,<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Abdelsalam |first1=Emad |last2=Almomani |first2=Fares |last3=Ibrahim |first3=Shadwa |title=An innovative twin-technology solar system design for electricity production |journal=Energy Reports |date=June 2024 |volume=11 |pages=153–163 |doi=10.1016/j.egyr.2023.11.027 |bibcode=2024EnRep..11..153A |doi-access=free }}</ref> and solar updraft-gas turbine waste heat transfer.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Mirzamohammad |first1=Amin |last2=Eftekhari Yazdi |first2=Mohammad |last3=Lavasani |first3=Arash Mirabdolah |title=Improvment of combined solar chimney power plant with gas power plant |journal=Scientific Reports |date=11 July 2023 |volume=13 |issue=1 |page=11220 |doi=10.1038/s41598-023-38464-4 |pmid=37433847 |pmc=10336099 |bibcode=2023NatSR..1311220M }}</ref>