Nevada Solar One

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It may contain information of a speculative nature and the content may change dramatically as the construction and/or completion of the power plant approaches, and more information becomes available.

Nevada Solar One will be the third largest solar power plant in the world, generating 64MW. Nevada Solar One is being built in Boulder City, Nevada by the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE), National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL), and Solargenix Energy. Spanish conglomerate Acciona purchased a 55% stake in Solargenix and as a result now owns 100% of the Nevada Solar One thermal project.^[1] Nevada Solar One is unrelated to Solar One, aside from having a similar name.

Nevada Solar One will use parabolic troughs as thermal solar concentrators, heating tubes of liquid (solar receivers), instead of the power tower concentrator (as Solar One used). These solar receivers are specially coated tubes made of glass and steel, which were designed and produced by the Schott Glass.^[2] About 19,300 of these 4 metre long tubes shall be used in the newly built power plant. Nevada Solar One will also use a technology that collects extra heat by putting it into phase-changing molten salts. This energy can then be drawn on at night.[1]

Solar thermal power plants designed for solar-only generation are ideally matched to summer noon peak loads in prosperous areas with significant cooling demands, such as the south-western United States. Using thermal energy storage systems, solar thermal operating periods can even be extended to meet base-load needs. [2]

Given Nevada's land and sun resources the state has the ability to produce more than 600GW using solar thermal concentrators like those that will be used in Nevada Solar One. Nevada Solar One is scheduled to start producing electricity in April 2007.^[3]

Parabolic concentrators have been successfully operating in California commercially since 1984, including the largest solar power plant of any kind, the 350 MW Solar Energy Generating Systems. Other parabolic trough power plants being proposed are two 50MW plants in Spain (see Solar power in Spain), and a 100MW plant in Israel.[3]