I believe everyone is familiar with the process of conversion of
sunlight into electricity which is the most important and relatively
inexpensive source of electrical energy whereas the grid power is
unreasonably expensive or simply unavailable. Back in 2012 it was
reported that the world's largest solar thermal farm is under
construction at the Mojave desert, Ivanpah and now it has achieved
commercial operation and delivering solar powered-energy to California's
electric grid at full capacity. Ivanpah Solar Electric Generating
System (ISEGS), the massive solar facility is generating a whopping 392
MW of solar energy to power 14,000 California homes with clean energy
and help avoid 40,000 metric tones of carbon dioxide per year.
This
massive solar plant uses the infinite source of sunlight as fuel. A sea
of sun tracking mirrors are used to reflect and focus the sunlight onto
boilers sitting atop three 450-foot high towers. This project is backed
by NRG, Google and Bright Source Energy, covering an area of 35,00
acres with project cost around US$2.2 Billion.
"Cleantech
innovations such as Ivanpah are critical to establishing America's
leadership in large-scale, clean-energy technology that will keep our
economy globally competitive over the next several decades," says NRG
Solar's president Tom Doyle. "We see Ivanpah changing the energy
landscape by proving that utility-scale solar is not only possible, but
incredibly beneficial to both the economy and in how we produce and
consume energy."Eric Davis, assistant regional director for migratory birds at the US Fish and Wildlife Service's Sacramento office has been reported as saying, "We're trying to figure out how big the problem is and what we can do to minimize bird mortalities. When you have new technologies, you don't know what the impacts are going to be."
Like every mega structure, this project also offers some drawbacks and reservations; like birds mortality rate is pretty high in that particular region. The high temperature generated by the mirrors kills any bird as they fly over the plant. No matter what, the gigantic plant is a fine example of how America is becoming a world leader in the solar energy as well among other things.
The California Energy Commission has stated that while Ivanpah will impact the local environment, its benefits outweigh the disadvantages. Such projects are a proof that the energy landscape can be transformed to provide more clean power to businesses and homes around the world.
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