What's the Light at the Solar Farm at the State Line with California?

Near the state line on I-15 there is a solar facility. Why is It when you drive by, sometimes it looks like a bright light is on?

That's the Ivanpah Solar Electric Generating System that opened in early February 2014.

Ivanpah’s three generating complexes occupy 3,500 acres of public land near Primm, Nevada, and can produce up to 400 megawatts of electricity, which can power 140,000 homes.

Ivanpah consists of nearly 350,000 heliostatic mirrors, each about seven feet wide and ten feet tall, roughly the size of a standard garage door. They’re computer controlled to track the sun during the day and reflect light to the five-million-pound boilers atop the three 459-foot-tall "solar-power towers." The sunlight heats water in the boilers’ tubes, which makes steam, which drives conventional turbines, which creates emissions-free electricity.

It’s a spectacular sight, to be sure: a third of a million mirrors in the desert appearing like some sort of colossal, even cosmic, mirage. That said, the power towers are a definite distraction to drivers along I-15. The towers’ receiver units, which become extremely hot during full operation, glow brightly, almost blindingly if stared at long enough. Driver beware.

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Comments

Pat Higgins Sep-05-2021

Big Tex

Very interesting.  Hopefully we will be seeing more of these emission free electric generating power station in the future all over the us.  I know Texas has a lot of area where this can be done.

Kevin Lewis Sep-05-2021

Dos mas

It looks like they're adding two more arrays. Nevada, being 95% otherwise useless, desolate nothingness, is an ideal location for solar generation plants.

Jeff Sep-05-2021

@Pat Higgins

The plant isn't completely carbon emission free.

"The plant burns [large amounts of] natural gas each morning to commence the operation. The Wall Street Journal reported, "Instead of ramping up the plant each day before sunrise by burning one hour's worth of natural gas to generate steam, Ivanpah needs more than four times that much."  -- Wikipedia

Jeff Sep-05-2021

@Kevin Lewis

The plant is entirely within San Bernardino County, CA.

Ecologists dedicated to the preservation of unique flora and fauna would dispute your contention that the Mojave Desert consists of useless, desolate nothingness. The desert is home to many species unique to the Mojave. In fact, the original plan for the Ivanpah plant was cut back to avoid building on the habitat of the desert tortoise.

Lotel Sep-05-2021

can you see much if you drive by , do you get close to it.  Is worth seeing. seems interesting

Question of the Day - 05 September 2021

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