towers will create a `` solar farm '' with an output of 300 megawatts , which would be enough power for 180,000 homes , or equivalent to the entire population of nearby Seville . This $ 1.5 billion project is the largest commercial CSP station in the world -- so far . But many believe the technology will soon take off in areas of continuous hot sun and clear skies , offering a cheaper and more efficient alternative to photovoltaic cells , and bringing jobs and money to arid , often depressed areas . CSP also produces no greenhouses gasses and the only pollution is visual . The European Union has invested over $ 31 million in CSP research over the last ten years . At least 50 CSP projects have been given permission to begin construction across Spain . By 2015 the country may be producing two gigawatts of electricity from CSP , and employing thousands in the industry . One of the strengths of CSP is that it allows the construction of power stations on a scale that can match many fossil fuel based plants , and for an investment far less than that required to install the
-LRB- CNN -RRB- -- Just west of Seville in Spain , a sea of giant mirrors is reflecting the sun 's energy to provide '' concentrated solar power '' -LRB- CSP -RRB- while illuminating the path to a new wave of green energy projects . Shining beacon : The concentrated solar power plant in Sanlucar , Spain is the first of its kind . The 624 carefully positioned mirrors reflect the sun 's heat towards a 50 meter-tall central tower where it is concentrated and used to boil water into steam . The superheated steam is then used to turn a turbine that can produce up to 11 megawatts of electricity -- enough power for 6,000 homes -- according Solucar , the Spanish company that has built the power plant . While traditional solar panels , photovoltaic cells , convert the sun 's power directly into electricity , CSP focuses power from a wide area and uses the vast heat generated to make electricity in a similar way to that produced from coal or oil . The Spanish tower , known as PS10 , is the first phase of an ambitious development . By 2013 it is hoped that additional