The Big Dish – Acton, Australia - Atlas Obscura
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The Big Dish

Acton, Australia

With a surface area of nearly 500 square meters, welcome to the world's largest paraboloidal dish solar concentrator.  

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The Big Dish Nick-D (Creative Commons)
The Big Dish Nick-D (Creative Commons)
The Big Dish Nick-D (Creative Commons)
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Constructed in 2009, the ANU Solar Generator 4 is a prototype dish designed to harness the power of the sun to fuel solar thermal generators. It’s also better known as the Big Dish. 

Located near Sullivans Creek on the Australian National University main campus, the Big Dish is a marvelous engineering feat. Its curved surface is coated with mirrors that concentrate rays of sunlight, producing enough heat to generate electricity. At the dish’s focal plane, the energy of more than 2,000 suns is concentrated. The power generated by this dish alone is capable of providing electricity to 100 advanced energy-efficient homes. 

satellite science
Nearby
The Shine Dome
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Australian National University Classics Museum
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