Thermal solar in Lancaster, CA
My good friend Leslie (aka @LaMamaNaturale on Twitter) wrote an exciting solar energy post on the Eco Child’s Play blog. There is good reason to agree that Lancaster, CA could become the solar energy capitol of the United States!
That’s right – the relatively small town of 475,000 is the new site of a 5 megawatt (MW) solar demonstration plant, recently unveiled by eSolar. The utility-scale solar power plant uses thermal solar technology, combining 24,000 mirrors and two tower house boilers. The mirrors focus solar energy onto the boilers, which superheats the water inside, creating steam which then drives turbine generators. Many believe that thermal solar is more cost-effective than photovoltaic (PV) solar panels in generating inexpensive, efficient solar energy.
The Lancaster project, known as Sierra SunTower, was completed in 14 months, and is already distributing enough clean, renewable energy to Southern California Edison to power 4,000 homes!
Just to put the amount of energy the new solar thermal development can create – and save – consider these fast facts:
- CO2 emissions reduced by 7,000 tons
- Equivalent to planting 5,265 acres of trees each year
- Removing 1,368 vehicles from the road each year
- Saving 650,000 gallons of gasoline
Powerlines in Lancaster, CA
eSolar’s CEO, Bill Gross, considers the Lancaster solar power plant to be an “economic miracle:”
“…the sun provides ten thousand times more energy than the whole Earth uses- but solar only contributes less than one tenth of one percent of all the energy the Earth needs.… It is the first solar plant that delivers the lowest cost solar electricity in history and finally competes with fossil fuel electricity directly, we currently compete with natural gas and as we continue to drive down the costs we will even compete with coal.”
Understandably, my friend Leslie and other people who live in Lancaster are very excited about the new solar energy plant. The mayor himself, R. Rex Parris, has noted that the City has the potential to become “the Alternative Energy Capitol of the World.”
Given the fact that it the new solar thermal facility is the “first of many clean, green power generation facilities planned for the Antelope Valley,” as noted in the local Outlook magazine, I think the mayor and other citizens of Lancaster are correct in considering it as the solar energy capitol!
Tags: esolar, lancaster, sierra suntower, solar power capitol, solar power plant, thermal solar
WHAT IS YOUR ADDRESS AND DRIVING DIRECTIONS FROM YORBA LINDA?
The population of Lancaster is NOT 475,000. That number is for the Antelope Valley. In addition, the development of a solar and wind-power facility west of Lancaster is currently being protested by our modern day Luddites.