Misaligned Mirrors Spark Fire At World’s Largest Solar Power Plant

Associated Press CBS Sacramento ^ | 19 May 2016

[Lorianne]

Firefighters had to climb some 300 feet up a boiler tower at the Ivanpah Solar Electric Generating System in California after fire was reported on an upper level around 9:30 a.m., fire officials said.

The plant works by using mirrors to focus sunlight on boilers at the top of three 459-foot towers, creating steam that drive turbines to produce electricity.

[Lorianne]

http://sacramento.cbslocal.com/2016/05/19/misaligned-mirrors-spark-fire-at-worlds-largest-solar-power-plant/

[RightGeek]

No toasted birds for a while!

[stocksthatgoup]

Brilliant!🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥

[indcons]

This thing is huge - flew over it recently and it certainly looks otherworldly from 30k feet

[Jack Deth]

*Ahem*

“HA HA!”

[Iron Munro]

In case anyone is interested,here are some details about the Ivanpah Solar Power Facility:

Final cost: $2.2 billion dollars.

The installation sprawls across approximately 5 square miles of federal desert.

The facility has 173,500 heliostats, each with two mirrors.
(the heliostats are the devices that keep the mirrors properly aligned as the angle of the sun changes)

The 347,000 mirrors are 70 square feet each.

Natural gas is burned as a back up heat source to power the boilers when there isn't sufficient sunlight.

Designers initially expected to need steam from gas-powered boilers for about an hour a day.

After operations began, they found they needed to keep boilers running more than four times longer — an average of 4½ hours a day.

[RightGeek]

I’d like mine extra crispy! http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2560494/Worlds-largest-solar-farm-SCORCHING-BIRDS-fly-it.html

[The_Media_never_lie]

There should be a law that all California must be powered by solar generators.

[The_Media_never_lie]

Did you feel the temp rise a few degrees as you flew over?

[indcons]

Yes, but I thought it had something to do with global warming.

At least that’s what the media tells us to believe every time there is a localized weather/temperature anomaly.

[kvanbrunt2]

china syndrome

[publius911]

I thought the California Fire Code requires elaborate automatic sprinklers for sensitive installations.

Let me guess...
Subsidized absurdly expensive "alternative energy" industries are exempt?

[SierraWasp]

"There should be a law that all California must be powered by solar generators."

Are you series? Why? Whatever has convinced you of this unwise policy/legislative idea?

[Secret Agent Man]

The solar plant equivalent of a wind turbine generator fire/explosion.

[lacrew]

Here’s an exemption Ivanpah got:

There is a desert tortoise out west that keeps a third of Fort Irwin unused. Its also the excuse given for forcing thr Bundy family and others to reduce their herds. Nothing trumps the tortoise...except Ivanpah.

[Nifster]

Search is your friend.

[r_barton]

Here is a lint to the Solar Plant on Google Earth. Zoom out, there are 3 of these plants side by side.

https://goo.gl/maps/nwNkMSp1SPv

[gigster]

Crispy Critters!

[21twelve]

http://energyrealityproject.com/lets-run-the-numbers-nuclear-energy-vs-wind-and-solar/

I did a search comparing nuclear power to solar, etc. The above link has LOTS of details on cost, death rates, etc. It sounds like this group is promoting small “factory made” nuclear reactors.

Regarding deaths, I think they said more people have died installing roof-top solar in the past few years than the entire USA nuke industry ever did! (Most during construction of the nuke plants. I think one guy at an expermental reactor).