Can someone explain to me in simple terms how solar plants and hydroelectric plants generate electricity?

I'm not asking how solar panels work, I already know that. I want to know how solar power plants generate electricity.

Hydroelectric and coal-fired power plants work in almost the same exact way. In both cases a power source is used to turn a turbine, which then turns an electric motor that produces electricity. The difference is that a coal-fired power plant uses steam to turn the turbine blades whereas a hydroelectric plant uses falling water to turn the turbine. The end results are the same.

Solar Energy Generating Systems (SEGS) is the largest solar energy generating facility in the world. It consists of nine solar power plants in California's Mojave Desert, where insolation is among the best available in the United States. The plants have a 354 MW installed capacity, making it the largest installation of solar plants of any kind in the world.

The facilities have a total of 936,384 mirrors and cover more than 1,600 acres.

This solar plant displaces 3,800 tons of pollution per year. It powers 232,500 homes. This solar plant saves 815,000 barrels of oil annually.

The installation uses parabolic trough solar thermal technology along with natural gas to generate electricity. 90% of the electricity is produced by the sunlight. Natural gas is only used when the solar power is insufficient to meet the demand from Southern California Edison, the distributer of power in southern California.

The parabolic mirrors are shaped like a half-pipe. The sun shines onto the panels made of glass, which are 94% reflective, unlike a typical mirror, which is only 70% reflective. The mirrors automatically track the sun throughout the day.

The sun bounces off the mirrors and is directed to a central tube filled with synthetic oil, which heats to over 400 °C (750 °F). The reflected light focused at the central tube is 71 to 80 times more intense than the ordinary sunlight. The synthetic oil transfers its heat to water, which boils and drives a steam turbine thereby generating electricity. Synthetic oil is used to carry the heat (instead of water) to keep the pressure within manageable parameters.

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