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Our view from I-15
There are three towers
here surrounded by more
than 300,000 mirrors.
In 2011 California Governor, Jerry Brown, signed legislation requiring California utilities to get 33% of electricity from renewable sources by the end of 2020. This solar thermal generation system generates electricity for California's electric grid.
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Eric drives closer so
we can see the mirrors
on pedestals.
This is the world's largest solar thermal generation system. It went on line just last month. A computer system directs the mirrors to concentrate sunlight onto a boiler filler with water that sits at the top of the tower. When the sunlight hits the boiler, the water inside is heated and creates high temperature steam. The steam is used in a turbine to produce electricity or for
industrial uses.
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It looks like each set of mirrors
has an electric motor to reorient
them as the sun crosses the sky.
The company doesn't give tours of the facility.
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The mirrors are angled to
catch the morning's rays.
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We stop & talk with three
men who are protesting
against their contractor.
The three men installed part of the generation system and were replaced by nonunion workers.
There's some sort of
atmospheric displacement to
the right of the tower.
If this is steam, I think there
would be more of it.
Steam generated by this process runs boilers. I think the displacement is from interaction with the air around the glowing 1,000 degree Fahrenheit boiler at the top of the tower.
This solar electric generating system is now under close scrutiny from environmentalists. According to an April 11, 2014 Washington Times article, exposure to extremely high temperatures are injuring and killing migratory birds. The US Fish and Wildlife Services study found that birds are also mistaking the solar panels for bodies of water
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