Many of the ancient pyramids of Egypt [1] used to be plated in gold and polished white limestone to reflect and amplify the rays of the sun. Now a modern pyramid is being built in India covered in glittering solar panels that similarly pays tribute to the sun. The Singapore-based MSC Power Corp [2] has designed its solar pyramid [3] as a next-gen electricity plant that generates up to 36 megawatts – enough to power towns in rural India that currently have no access to the grid. It also has a desalination [4] component that removes salt from seawater to make it potable.

Here’s a technical description of how it works, according to the MSC web site: “Electricity is generated by hot air moving through a Wind Turbine, by a Gas Turbine and from Solar panels. The desalination is carried out using the heat from the Main Thermal Tank and the steam generated from the H2O2 gas boilers.” OK, so it's over our heads, but nevertheless a promising innovation!

More to the point, it's becoming increasingly cost-competitive with conventional forms of energy in the developing world: “India and China are trying to boost power generation amid strong economic growth, though surging oil and gas prices have made renewable energies such as wind power more competitive,” explains the Hindustan Times [5].

[Via: Treehugger [6], via Groovy Green [7], via Hindustan Times [8] ]

Image credit: MSC Power Corp [9]