Can you get 1000 deg C from sunlight?

Even the world’s hottest place experiences a maximum temperature of about 57 degrees C!

So, is it possible to achieve a temperature of 1000 degrees C using sunlight?

Sounds impossible? But it can be achieved through the principle of sunlight concentration.

A specialized field called concentrating solar thermal (CST) has existed for quite a while. CST solutions have been able to routinely generate temperatures upwards of 400 degrees C, hot enough to run a steam turbine to generate electricity.

Recently, some startups have used the same technique of sunlight concentration to achieve much higher temperatures. A Swiss startup, Synhelion, claims to produce temperatures of up to 1500 degrees C – a temperature at which the technology can even replace coal in cement clinkers requiring very high temperatures.

Solutions such as those from Synhelion have the potential to decarbonize many high temperature industrial processes that did not have a choice but to use fossil fuels until now.