Ivanpah’s solar farm has 347,000 software-controlled mirrors that track the movement of the sun throughout the day. They direct the light towards one of the three towers, where a water boiler creates steam to power a generator and produce electricity.
In February 2014, the Ivanpah solar power generation system was inaugurated over an area of 3,500 hectares in the mojave desert. Today, 100% operational, is the The world’s largest solar thermal farm with 392 megawatts, or just under 1% of California’s total energy production, enough to power 140,000 homes.
Capable of eliminating 450,000 tonnes of carbon emissions per year, the equivalent of 88,000 cars off the road.
It cost over $ 2 billion and it is a product of the business association NRG Energy, BrightSource Energy and Google.
Seen in: popsci.com
Image: Ethan Miller / Getty Images.