CASE STUDY: Mojave Desert - World's Largest Solar Power Installation

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By Andy Jerald

Many of you may have heard about the Mojave Desert. It is located in the United States and occupies borders of many states including California, Utah, Nevada and Arizona. It is famously known for most people in the solar energy industry because it is the world's largest solar power installation and solar power plant. I just thought I would write an article about it since we have been talking a lot about setting up solar panels in your houses.

It is known to have the capacity to generate more than 392 megawatts of electricity which collectively powers as many as 500,000 people's energy needs. This is one of the perfect examples about the positive uses of renewable energy sources rather than fossil fuels which would equivalently also produce carbon dioxide and contribute to pollution, global warming etc.

The Mojave Desert makes use of SEGS (Solar Energy Generation Systems) to incorporate the transformation of solar energy into electrical energy or for whatever purpose it is ultimately used for. But it is indeed a huge boost for those of you planning to get solar powered panels in your homes. There are currently nine solar power plants in the Mojave Desert.

The United States Energy Department plans to introduce 3 more installations in the desert among which the popular Nevada Solar One is an option. The reason for which the Mojave Desert is considered to be such an important location for solar energy enthusiasts is because of its location. It is located at an ideal location to receive an optimum amount of solar energy and receives almost twice the "insonation" (solar radiation) that most other parts of the country receive. Thus, the desert serves as an ideal place for non renewable sources of energy such as solar energy to serve as an example.

It is tough to calculate the exact costs and benefits that one can get from setting up such solar power plants in comparison with other renewable sources of energy and in comparison with "fossil fuels". This is because governments also spend a lot of money to control pollution that is caused by the use of fossil fuels that is normally not take into account. This money that the government spends comes from you, the taxpayer. So, indirectly, you are also spending a lot of money on these renewable sources of energy that you use when you are driving your car, etc. That makes solar energy advantages even more abundant especially with places like "Mojave Desert" generating so much electricity.

Solar power towers are what one would use in case of solar one and solar two. I had already mentioned about the United States Energy Department planning to set up a solar power facility in Nevada which is also called as "Nevada Solar One". This Solar One and Solar two are the ones that make use of solar power towers which use heliostats to reflect the sun's rays onto the panel which then use that to generate electricity. The Solar Two is characteristically different from the others in that it uses molten salt instead of water which is typically used to generate electricity. The molten salt reaches very high temperatures and because of the chemical nature of molten salt can be used to generate electricity even during the night and even during cloudy or rainy days. This is indeed great about the Mojave Desert.

Solar Energy Generation Systems (SEGS) - These are basically solar energy systems that are used a lot in various places and especially in the Mojave Desert. They were manufactured and are maintained by Luz Industries from Israel and are very efficient and help in meeting the needs of more than 500,000 people.

The Nellis Solar Power Plant, the Ivanpah Solar Power Facility and the Nevada Solar One are some of the very well known upcoming projects that are being considered by the Us Department of Energy to be set up in the Mojave Desert. I hope that these above "solar energy facts" and "solar energy advantages" inspired you to set up your own solar panels in your homes. By using renewable sources of energy such as solar energy, you are not only helping in controlling the pollution but also saving yourselves a lot of money in terms of savings in the long term and in terms of the various tax incentives that you become eligible for.

Andy Jerald is devoted to helping to save the environment and control pollution by using the renewable sources of energy. He generates his own electricity with the help of solar energy at his house. He blogs about his projects. Check it out at Solar Energy Advantages. Also check out a related blog post at Mojave Desert.

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