ivanpah amidst 19M acres dedicated to solar energy production in mojave desert

‘ivanpah solar electric generating system’ view of the currently installed solar panels

the obama administration has unveiled plans to dedicate an additional 19 million acres of land in the mojave desert to american solar energy production. currently development on the world’s largest concentrating solar power plant – ivanpah solar electric generating system (SEGS) – is underway in the region, and with this announcement, incentives are being offered for developers to cluster projects within the new designated production site.

brightsource is responsible for the technology behind the ivanpah SEGS, which is set for completion in 2013. its location along the california-nevada border offers abundant sunlight and will generate 392 megawatts of energy, enough to power 140,000 homes per day. the complex will reduce carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions by more than 400,000 tonnes per year, which is the equivalent of taking more than 70,000 cars off the road.

with more than 170,000 heliostats installed, the entire ivanpah project will feature a low-impact environmental design, resulting in maximum land-use efficiency. equipped with GPS devices to track the sun, computers will be used to align the mirror panels every ten seconds, optimizing energy production through accurate positioning. capable of reducing major air pollutants by 85% compared to new natural gas-fired power plants, more than 13.5 million tons of carbon dioxide emissions will be displaced in the next 30 years, the equivalent to taking 2.1 million cars off the road.

see designboom earlier coverage of the ivanpah station and its power towers in their early stages of development in 2011 here. read more about the plan and the expansion of land dedicated to solar energy plans at the LA times.

ivanpah amidst 19M acres dedicated to solar energy production in mojave desert

installed solar panels in the mojave desert for the ‘ivanpah solar power plant’

heliostats being transported to unit 1 of the solar field

finalizing the third phase of construction overview of the entire ivanpah project from on top of unit 1’s power tower, with unit 2 (at left) and unit 3 (in the center)