Bizarre Giant Mirrors in the California Desert

If you have ever flown over the Southern California Mojave Desert, you might have seen the strange glow from the ground. It seems to change brightness and glow in a strange fashion as you fly closest to the Nevada border. Is it a secret military base? Is it some sort of water facility? What the heck is it?

Bizarre glow on desert flood near California-Nevada border. Taken from airplanePhoto byEpic Earth YouTube

The site is at the base of the Clark Mountains in California. Just across the state line from Primm, Nevada. There are three 459-foot towers and thousands of mirrors around each tower. If it looks like a solar array, then you are partially right. This is the Ivanpah (I-van-pha) Solar Electric Generating System. It is referred to as a concentrated solar thermal plant.

Colorado Martini and fellow scientist doing geophysical field work in Southern California.Photo byColorado Martini Publishing LLC

I first saw this type of project decades ago. Sometime around the early 1990’s I was performing geophysical field work for the University of California, Riverside in the Mojave Desert. What I saw was the “The Solar Project.” This project was only one tower at the time and not as many mirrors. It was in a type of beta version at the time. My crew and I thought it was so futuristic and as scientists we were wowed by the technology.

Solar Project - Solar 2 near Barstow, CAPhoto byGoShow CC by 3.0

“The Solar Project” was built by The US Department of Energy (DOE) and a consortium of utility companies and was near Barstow, California in Daggett. What we saw was “Solar One.” A pilot solar-thermal project and the first test of a large-scale thermal solar power tower plant. This pilot site has since been demolished.

Years later it was finally developed and commercialized into the large site near Primm, Nevada. The Ivanpah Solar Electric Generating System is a concentrated solar thermal plant. This $2.2 billion facility was developed by BrightSource Energy and Bechtel. NRG Energy contributed $300 million. Google contributed $168 million. The Federal government provided a $1.6 billion loan guarantee, and the plant is built on public land. See video below from Epic Earth about solar plant.

Have you ever heard of this type of power generation? Let us know in the comments.

View of the Ivanpah Solar Power Facility from the Yates Well Road exit of the I-15 Freeway.Photo bySarov702, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons

How does it work?

To put it in the simple terms:

• Thousands of mirrors (heilostats) harness the Sun’s energy and light. There are 350,000 mirrors. Each is 7 feet high and 10 feet wide.
• The mirrors focus that energy and light onto a liquid filled container (solar boiler receiver) on top of the tower.
• The liquid boils, generates steam, turns turbines, and generates electrical power.
• Boom you have power courtesy of the Sun. Also referred to as solar thermal energy.

Hilostat mirrors on Solar 2Photo byGabriel Milos / Atlas Obscura

This system is called a Rankine-cycle. Rankine cycle systems consist of a pump, boiler, turbine, and condenser. The pump delivers liquid water to the boiler. The boiler heated by solar heat converts water to superheated steam. This steam is used to run the turbine which powers the generator. The reflected heat of the Sun heats the steam to 1022°F / 550 °C directly in the receivers.

Ivanpah Solar Electric Generating System tower.Photo bytheirongiant, CC BY-SA 4.

The solar plant has a capacity of almost 400 megawatts (MW), which is enough to power 140,000 homes. An equivalent fossil fuel powered plant would produce this same amount of energy while emitting 400,000 metric tons of carbon dioxide per year. This is the equivalent effect of removing 72,000 vehicles from the road. The average output of a U.S. coal-fired plant of 667 MW. See video below from Epic Earth about solar plant.

Do you think this is an efficient way of generating power? Let us know in the comments.

But what if it is cloudy or night?

Each plant/tower has auxiliary boilers and a nighttime preservation boiler. The auxiliary boiler is used for thermal input to the steam turbine during the morning start-up cycle to assist the plant. The auxiliary boiler is also operated during cloudy days.

View of towers and mirrors from airplane.Photo byEpic Earth YouTube

Final Thoughts

Next time you find yourself flying over the Mojave Desert. Keep an eye out for this bizarre shinny solar plant in the middle of nowhere. If you are traveling east, sit on the right-hand side of the plane (facing front) and the opposite when traveling west. Have your camera ready. See video below from Epic Earth about solar plant.

Have you ever seen these from the ground or an airplane? Let us know in the comments.

See video from Epic Earth about solar plant

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References

• https://www.e-education.psu.edu/eme812/node/708#:~:text=The%20Rankine%20cycle%20system%20consists,turbine%20which%20powers%20the%20generator.
• https://www.google.com/maps/place/Ivanpah+Solar+Electric+Generating+System/@35.5609159,-115.4903219,10792m/data=!3m1!1e3!4m6!3m5!1s0x80cf43490ff9fde1:0x17080474266201e1!8m2!3d35.5564384!4d-115.4704092!16s%2Fm%2F07s7pqd?entry=ttu
• https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ivanpah_Solar_Power_Facility
• https://www.mic.com/articles/82417/9-things-to-know-about-the-world-s-largest-solar-plant-in-california#:~:text=The%20Ivanpah%20solar%20plant%20has,enough%20to%20power%20140%2C000%20homes.
• https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:BrightSource_Energy_Luz_Power_Tower_550_at_full_load_(installed_at_Ivanpah_Stateline_Solar_Facility,_Nipton,_CA).JPG
• https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Solar_Project
• https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F_EAKToEljI