Worker at a tilted parabolic trough solar collector. (Source: © topten22photo / stock.adobe.com)

A solar concentrating power plant with a long row of parabolic mirrors that concentrate the sun’s radiation onto a tubular absorber running through their focus. The focal tube is filled with a heat transfer medium that reaches temperatures of around 400 °C, which can be used to generate electricity in solar farms containing large numbers of parabolic trough collectors. Rows of collectors are most often oriented along a north-south axis and rotate behind the sun during the day. Collectors oriented along an east-west axis do not rotate during the day but require minor tilt adjustments during the year.