Check out the PS10 concentrated solar power tower near Seville Spain.

So how does it work? Simple. Thousands of mirrors reflect sunbeams onto the central tower.

British and European homes could soon be powered by “desert energy” after a group of powerful businesses joined forces in a massive renewable energy project that will see the African sun harvested for electricity.

Within just three years, the colossal DESERTEC Industrial Initiative (DII) aims to install a huge network of solar plants harnessing the sun’s rays in the Sahara desert.

It will be the biggest of its kind in the world and will dwarf a similar scheme already operating in the Mojave Desert.

Big companies like Siemens, Deutsche Bank and E.ON energy have now formed a twelve-strong consortium based in Munich to turn the $390 billion green dream into a reality.

Planners aim for the North African project to provide a whopping 15% of Europe’s electricity by 2050.

In a revolutionary twist to the scheme, all of the energy would be harvested using clean and sustainable methods called Concentrating Solar Power (CSP).

Field’s of mirrors are used to focus sunbeams onto containers of water which cause turbines to spin as steam is created. Just like conventional plants the turbines drive generators, creating electricity.