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The SOLAR Project consists of the Solar One, Solar Two and Solar Tres
solar thermal Solar thermal energy (STE) is a form of energy and a technology for harnessing solar energy to generate thermal energy for use in industry, and in the residential and commercial sectors. Solar thermal collectors are classified by the United S ...
power plants based in the
Mojave Desert The Mojave Desert ( ; mov, Hayikwiir Mat'aar; es, Desierto de Mojave) is a desert in the rain shadow of the Sierra Nevada mountains in the Southwestern United States. It is named for the indigenous Mojave people. It is located primarily in ...
, United States and Andalucía, Spain. The
US Department of Energy The United States Department of Energy (DOE) is an executive department of the U.S. federal government that oversees U.S. national energy policy and manages the research and development of nuclear power and nuclear weapons in the United State ...
(DOE) and a consortium of US utilities built the country's first two large-scale, demonstration solar power towers in the desert near Barstow, California. Solar One/Solar Two have been scrapped since 2009. Solar Tres (later renamed Gemasolar), the first commercial plant of the project, was opened in Spain in 2011.


Solar One

Solar One was a pilot solar-thermal project built in the
Mojave Desert The Mojave Desert ( ; mov, Hayikwiir Mat'aar; es, Desierto de Mojave) is a desert in the rain shadow of the Sierra Nevada mountains in the Southwestern United States. It is named for the indigenous Mojave people. It is located primarily in ...
just east of Barstow, CA, USA. It was the first test of a large-scale thermal
solar power tower A solar power tower, also known as 'central tower' power plant or ' heliostat' power plant, is a type of solar furnace using a tower to receive focused sunlight. It uses an array of flat, movable mirrors (called heliostats) to focus the sun's r ...
plant. Solar One was designed by the Department of Energy (DOE) (led by Sandia National Laboratories in Livermore, California), Southern California Edison, LA Dept of Water and Power, and California Energy Commission. It was located in Daggett, CA, about east of Barstow. Solar One's method of collecting energy was based on concentrating the sun's energy onto a common focal point to produce heat to run a steam turbine generator. It had hundreds of large mirror assemblies, or
heliostat A heliostat (from ''helios'', the Greek word for ''sun'', and ''stat'', as in stationary) is a device that includes a mirror, usually a plane mirror, which turns so as to keep reflecting sunlight toward a predetermined target, compensating ...
s, that track the sun, reflecting the solar energy onto a 328 ft (100 m) tall tower where a black receiver absorbed the heat. High-temperature heat transfer fluid was used to carry the energy to a boiler on the ground where the steam was used to spin a series of turbines, much like a traditional power plant. In the late 1970s, a competition was held by the DoE to obtain the best heliostat design for the project. Several promising designs were selected and prototypes were built and shipped to the area for testing. Trade-offs involved simplicity of construction to minimize costs for high-volume manufacturing versus the need for a reliable, two-axis tracking system that could maintain focus on the tower. Rigidity of the structure was a major concern in terms of wind load resistance and durability, but shading of the mirrors by support structures was to be avoided. The project produced 7 MW of electricity using 1,818 heliostats of 40 m² (430 ft²) reflective surface area each, with a total area of 72,650 m² (782,000 ft²). Solar One was completed in 1981 and was operational from 1982 to 1986. Later redesigned and renamed Solar Two, it could be seen from
Interstate 40 Interstate 40 (I-40) is a major east–west Interstate Highway running through the south-central portion of the United States. At a length of , it is the third-longest Interstate Highway in the country, after I-90 and I-80. From west to ea ...
where it covered a 51 
hectare The hectare (; SI symbol: ha) is a non-SI metric unit of area equal to a square with 100-metre sides (1 hm2), or 10,000 m2, and is primarily used in the measurement of land. There are 100 hectares in one square kilometre. An acre is a ...
(126 
acre The acre is a unit of land area used in the imperial Imperial is that which relates to an empire, emperor, or imperialism. Imperial or The Imperial may also refer to: Places United States * Imperial, California * Imperial, Missouri * Imp ...
) site, not including the administration building or rail yard facilities shared with a neighboring plant. Solar One/Two and other nearby solar projects are plainly visible via satellite imaging software at . During times of high winds, blowing dust is sometimes illuminated by the reflected sunbeams to create an unusual atmospheric phenomenon in the vicinity of the power tower. These beams of light were depicted in several scenes, and a painting, in the 1987 movie ''
Bagdad Cafe ''Bagdad Cafe'' (sometimes ''Bagdad Café'', titled ''Out of Rosenheim'' in Germany) is a 1987 English-language West German film directed by Percy Adlon. It is a comedy-drama set in a remote truck stop and motel in the Mojave Desert in the U.S. st ...
'', which was filmed nearby.
Nevada Solar One Nevada Solar One is a concentrated solar power plant, with a nominal capacity of 64 Watt, MW and maximum steam turbine power output up to 72 MW net (75 MW gross), spread over an area of . The projected Carbon dioxide, CO2 emissions ...
shares a similar name to Solar One, however it is quite different. It uses a solar thermal parabolic trough system and generates 64 MW.


Solar Two

In 1995 Solar One was converted into Solar Two, by adding a second ring of 108 larger 95 m² (1,000 ft²) heliostats around the existing Solar One, totaling 1926 heliostats with a total area of 82,750 m² (891,000 ft²). This gave Solar Two the ability to produce 10 megawatts—enough to power an estimated 7,500 homes. Solar Two used molten salt, a combination of 60% 
sodium nitrate Sodium nitrate is the chemical compound with the formula . This alkali metal nitrate salt is also known as Chile saltpeter (large deposits of which were historically mined in Chile) to distinguish it from ordinary saltpeter, potassium nitrate. T ...
and 40% 
potassium nitrate Potassium nitrate is a chemical compound with the chemical formula . This alkali metal nitrate salt is also known as Indian saltpetre (large deposits of which were historically mined in India). It is an ionic salt of potassium ions K+ and nitrat ...
, as an
energy storage Energy storage is the capture of energy produced at one time for use at a later time to reduce imbalances between energy demand and energy production. A device that stores energy is generally called an accumulator or battery. Energy comes in ...
medium instead of oil or water as with Solar One. This helped in energy storage during brief interruptions in sunlight due to clouds. The molten salt also allowed the energy to be stored in large tanks for future use such as night time—Solar Two had sufficient capacity to continue running for up to three hours after the sun had set. Solar Two was decommissioned in 1999. In 2001, the University of California, Davis, received funding to convert it into an air Cherenkov telescope for measuring
gamma rays A gamma ray, also known as gamma radiation (symbol γ or \gamma), is a penetrating form of electromagnetic radiation arising from the radioactive decay of atomic nuclei. It consists of the shortest wavelength electromagnetic waves, typically ...
hitting the
atmosphere An atmosphere () is a layer of gas or layers of gases that envelop a planet, and is held in place by the gravity of the planetary body. A planet retains an atmosphere when the gravity is great and the temperature of the atmosphere is low. A s ...
. The first astronomical observations were in the fall of 2004, and the last were in November 2005 This project was named C.A.C.T.U.S. The facility was operated by the
University of California, Davis The University of California, Davis (UC Davis, UCD, or Davis) is a public land-grant research university near Davis, California. Named a Public Ivy, it is the northernmost of the ten campuses of the University of California system. The institut ...
but owned by
Southern California Edison Southern California Edison (or SCE Corp), the largest subsidiary of Edison International, is the primary electricity supply company for much of Southern California. It provides 15 million people with electricity across a service territory of ap ...
. Solar Two's 3 primary participants were Southern California Edison (SCE), the Los Angeles Department of Water and Power (LADWP), and the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE). : "We're proud of Solar Two's success as it marks a significant milestone in the development of large-scale solar energy projects," said then U.S. Energy Secretary
Bill Richardson William Blaine Richardson III (born November 15, 1947) is an American politician, author, and diplomat who served as the 30th governor of New Mexico from 2003 to 2011. He was also the U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations and Energy Secretary ...
. : "This technology has been successfully demonstrated and is ready for commercialization. From 1994 to 1999, the Solar Two project demonstrated the ability of solar molten salt technology to provide long-term, cost effective thermal energy storage for electricity generation.",
Boeing The Boeing Company () is an American multinational corporation that designs, manufactures, and sells airplanes, rotorcraft, rockets, satellites, telecommunications equipment, and missiles worldwide. The company also provides leasing and product ...
On November 25, 2009, after 10 years of not producing any energy, the Solar Two tower was demolished. The mothballed site was levelled and returned to vacant land by Southern California Edison. All heliostats and other hardware were removed.


Solar Tres

Due to the success of Solar Two, a commercial power plant, originally called Solar Tres Power Tower, now known as
Gemasolar Thermosolar Plant Gemasolar is a concentrated solar power plant with a molten salt heat storage system. It is located within the city limits of Fuentes de Andalucía in the province of Seville, Spain. Design and specifications The plant is of the solar power t ...
built in Spain by
Torresol Energy Torresol Energy is a company dedicated to developing renewable energy and alternative energies, focusing on concentrated solar energy. It is based in the city of Getxo in Biscay Province (''Vizcaya''), in the Basque Country of northern Spain ...
using Solar One and Solar Two's technology for commercial electrical production of 15 MW. Solar Tres is three times larger than Solar Two with 2,493 heliostats, each with a reflective surface of 96 m². The total reflective area will be 240,000 m² (2.6 million ft²). They will be made of a highly reflective glass with metal back to cut costs by about 45%. A larger molten nitrate salt storage tank will be used giving the plant the ability to store 600 MWh, allowing the plant to run 24/7 during the summer.


See also

*
List of solar thermal power stations This is a list of the largest facilities generating electricity through the use of solar thermal power, specifically concentrated solar power. Operational Under construction Announced Cancelled Decommissioned * Eurelios p ...
*
Solar power Solar power is the conversion of energy from sunlight into electricity, either directly using photovoltaics (PV) or indirectly using concentrated solar power. Photovoltaic cells convert light into an electric current using the photovoltaic e ...
* Solar power in Spain *
Solar power plants in the Mojave Desert There are several solar power plants in the Mojave Desert which supply power to the electricity grid. Insolation (solar radiation) in the Mojave Desert is among the best available in the United States, and some significant population centers ar ...
*
Solar 1 Solar 1 is New York City's only self-sustaining solar powered building. It houses educational facilities for Solar One, a non-profit organisation concerned with green energy, arts, and education. The Solar 1 building is located at the north end ...


Notes


References

* https://www.nrel.gov/docs/fy01osti/28751.pdf * http://www.keepmedia.com/ShowItemDetails.do?itemID=1057454&extID=10030 * http://thefraserdomain.typepad.com/energy/2005/09/about_parabolic.html * www.solarpaces.org/SolarThermal_Thematic_Review.pdf (dead) * http://www.sandia.gov/media/solarll.htm * www.solarpaces.org/SOLARTRES.HTM (dead)


External links


A very detailed explanation of all parts of Solar One, with diagrams

Technical and economic descriptions of various Solar Thermal Power generation techniques
(dead)
Updated description of Solar Tres
(dead) {{DEFAULTSORT:Solar Project Energy infrastructure completed in 1981 Energy infrastructure completed in 1995 Solar power stations in California Mojave Desert Buildings and structures in San Bernardino County, California