Take a Look at the World's Largest Solar Thermal Farm
When completed in 2013, this series of 170,000 mirrors will power 140,000 California homes
- By Mark Strauss
- Smithsonian magazine, November 2012, Subscribe
The Mojave Desert is blooming. Construction crews are erecting mirrors —each measuring 70 square feet—at a rate of 500 per day across some 3,500 acres. When completed in late 2013, the $2.2 billion Ivanpah Solar Electric Generating System—the largest of its type in the world—will power 140,000 California homes.
Unlike photovoltaic technology, which converts solar radiation directly into electricity, the Ivanpah facility generates heat. More than 170,000 mirrors will gather tremendous amounts of sunlight and focus it on three towers filled with water, raising temperatures to more than 1,000 degrees Fahrenheit and producing steam that spins turbines that generate electricity. The Oakland-based company BrightSource Energy, which is overseeing construction by the Bechtel corporation, says that using sunlight instead of fossil fuels to power the turbines will reduce carbon emissions by more than 400,000 tons annually. The desert region—thanks to its elevation and clear, dry air—receives reliable sunlight 330 to 350 days per year.
Not everyone thinks the solar plant represents a brighter future. Environmentalists warn that the construction threatens the desert ecosystem, while the heated plumes of air from the towers could singe migrating birds.
But more than 75 percent of Californians say they support using desert lands for renewable energy production. And come next year, when Ivanpah flips the on switch, it will nearly double the amount of solar thermal energy produced in the United States.
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Comments (5)
Solar Superpower, "the Mojave Desert is blooming...". You just got to love that "green energy"! No fossil fuels, no CO2, no tree cutting...just perfectly clean electric power from the middle of nowhere!...except that "the construction threatens the desert (middle of nowhere) ecosystem, the heat from the towers ( Mojave Desert? ) could singe birds"... Is there any wonder some "environmentalists" are called "wackos"?
Posted by Randy Welborn on November 16,2012 | 11:46 AM
@ Shaun, This technology can provide firm power. PV cannot without batteries. Would you rather have a coal plant there with the coal ash pond next to it? Or how about a nuculear plant with the typical onsite aste storage? @Surly At night the load is a fraction of the load during the day. See http://www.caiso.com/outlook/SystemStatus.html to see what the CAL-ISO load curve looks like. This will offset the use of expensive simple cycle gas peakers which are turned on for peak load and off at night. When Ivanahpah turns off at night no othe rplant will have to turn on to offset it. Renewables is the future.
Posted by Evan Riley on October 31,2012 | 01:22 PM
BrightSource Energy's solar plant designs are an ecological disaster. The Ivanpah project destroyed 5.6 square miles of intact desert habitat for hundreds of species of desert reptiles, plants, mammals and birds. The thousands of giant mirrors will undoubtedly kill hundreds of birds, and biologists are now warning that the "radiant flux" (intense reflection of the sun) can blind or damage a birds eyes with less than a quarter of a second exposure. Why don't we just put solar panels on rooftops?
Posted by Shaun on October 30,2012 | 05:38 PM
Surly is assuming electrical power consumption is constant over a 24 hour period. In fact, electrical power consumption is highest during daylight hours, exactly when solar plants are producing power.
Posted by HB on October 28,2012 | 10:34 PM
will power 140,000 California homes during daylight hours. At night you still need a conventional power plant. Then you have to shut down and start up two different power plants each and every day. This means greatly increased wear and tear on the pants, increased cost of maintaining two plants instead of one and an increase of feel good quotient for the Eco-freaks.
Posted by Surly Curmudgen on October 28,2012 | 05:11 PM