Solar power plants in the Mojave Desert
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Insolation in the Mojave Desert is among the best available in the United States, and some significant population centres are located in the area. This makes the Mojave Desert particularly suitable for solar power plants.
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[edit] Solar One
Solar One was a pilot solar-thermal project in the Mojave Desert just east of Barstow, California. It was the first test of a large scale thermal solar power tower. Solar One was designed by the Department of Energy (DOE), Southern California Edison, LA Dept of Water and Power, and California Energy Commission. It was located in Daggett, California, which is about 10 miles east of Barstow.
[edit] Solar Two
In 1995 Solar One was converted into Solar Two, by adding a second ring of 108 larger heliostats around the existing Solar One, making a total of 1926 heliostats with a total area of 82,750 m². This gave Solar Two the capability of redirecting the equivalent of 600 suns and the ability to produce 10 megawatts of power.
Solar Two used molten salt as an energy storage medium instead of water or oil. This helped in energy storage during interruptions in sunlight due to clouds and night time. The Solar Two project demonstrated the ability of solar molten salt technology to provide long-term, cost effective thermal energy storage for electricity generation.
Solar Two was decommissioned in 1999, and was converted by the University of California, Davis, into an Air Cherenkov Telescope in 2001, measuring gamma rays hitting the atmosphere.
[edit] Solar Electricity Generating Systems
Solar Energy Generating Systems (SEGS) is the name given to nine solar power plants in the Mojave Desert. SEGS I-VII are located at Kramer Junction, and SEGS VIII and IX are at Harper Lake and Barstow respectively. The SEGS power plants were commissioned between 1984 and 1991. [1]
The installation uses parabolic trough solar thermal technology along with natural gas to generate electricity. The facility has a total of 400,000 mirrors and covers 1,000 acres (4 km²). The plants produce 354MW, making the system the largest solar plant of any kind in the world.[2]
[edit] Nevada Solar One
Nevada Solar One will generate 64MW of power and is being built in Boulder City, Nevada by the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE), National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL), and Solargenix Energy. Nevada Solar One is scheduled to start producing electricity in April 2007.[3]
Nevada Solar One will use parabolic troughs as thermal solar concentrators, heating tubes of liquid which act as solar receivers. These solar receivers are specially coated tubes made of glass and steel, which were designed and produced by the Schott Glass. About 19,300 of these 4 metre long tubes shall be used in the newly built power plant.[4] 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.[5]
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. [6]
[edit] Stirling Solar Dish
Stirling Energy Systems in conjunction with utility company Southern California Edison is erecting a 500 megawatt, 4,600-acre (19 km²), solar power plant to open in 2009. [7] [8]This will be the first commercial application of the Stirling Solar Dish. A different technology from the more familiar solar panel, the dish concentrates solar energy by the use of reflective surfaces and by the use of the Stirling heat engine to convert the heat into electricity.[9]
Stirling Energy Systems have announced another agreement with San Diego Gas & Electric to provide between 300 and 900 megawatts of electricity.[10]
