Low-cost system could revolutionize global energy production

A team led by MIT students this week successfully tested a prototypeof what may be the most cost-efficient solar power system in theworld--one team members believe has the potential to revolutionizeglobal energy production.

The system consists of a 12-foot-widemirrored dish that team members have spent the last several weeksassembling. The dish, made from a lightweight frame of thin,inexpensive aluminum tubing and strips of mirror, concentrates sunlightby a factor of 1,000--creating heat so intense it could melt a bar ofsteel.