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Solar power plant - giant
In California's Mojave Desert last week has started the world's largest solar power plant Ivanpah Solar Electric Generating Station. Its design capacity is about 400 megawatts: this amount of energy is enough 140 million homes in California.
The project worth $ 2, 2 billion implemented by the American company NRG Energy with support from DOE. 350 thousand giant mirrors located on an area of 13 square meters. kilometers reflect sunlight, heating the water and transforming it into steam, which in turn rotates the turbine generates electricity.
Experts emphasize that the new station will seriously reduce carbon emissions: as if from the roads of California removed 72 thousand cars. In such "solar" states like Arizona, Nevada, California and other 17 have already been allocated plots for the construction of similar solar power.
However, projects are being implemented more slowly than planned, bumping, oddly enough, the protests by the "green". The fact is that, although in the long run such stations are for the benefit of the environment, into the actual construction of stations pollute the areas reserved for them, depriving turtles and other fauna of the desert familiar habitat.
Nevertheless, the US plans to become a world leader in clean energy. Now it takes less than 1% of the total energy market in the country, but by 2020, according to the state program, one third of all the energy produced shall be translated into renewables.
This station is the largest in the world, its area - 14 to 24 square kilometers (5, 5 square miles). The name of this object - Ivanpah Solar Electric Generating System. This station is a type of thermal solar power.
This station is capable of producing about 30% of the "thermal energy", manufactured in the USA. At the site there are 3 towers of 140 meters, surrounded by 300,000 mirrors the size of a garage door. These mirrors focus the sun's rays on the collector, located at the top of the tower. In the upper part of the tower is located, and the water tank, where, and directed all the heat energy collected mirrors.
Each tower was built and its control center, plus there is a common control center, where the whole system is controlled. At the same time, according to the company that created the station, the system does not store the molten salt heat transfer medium, as in the case of smaller projects, such as Crescent Dunes.
It should be noted that each of the mirrors can be tilted and a direction of inclination of the command center. Biweekly mirror washed. As far as we can understand, a special washing system mirror + special team washers, cleaning the mirror at night. To manage all the mirrors was created proprietary system SFINCS (Solar Field Integrated Control System).
The entire system consists of 22 million individual parts (rivets, bolts, etc. are not considered).
The total project cost amounted to 2, 2 billion USD, of which 1, 4 - a federal loan.
This system is formed steam directed to the turbine blades, producing energy, which is enough for the needs of 140,000 households of California.
However, it was not without problems. For example, focusing the sun's rays burn the birds flying over the station. This fact is the reason for the protests of environmental organizations in the US. But, despite all the protests, the project was able to complete and put into operation.
Finally, the design still have to develop. Engineers BrightSource Energy has offered to give up the water tank and use special salt solutions, which further increase the efficiency of the system while maintaining its environmental and energy qualities.
The service station employs 86 staff. Estimated operating period of 30 years, during which the station will provide 140,000 homes with electricity from the county town.
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