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Solar Panel Farm Fries Hundreds of Birds Out of The Sky
Townhall.com ^ | February 24, 2015 | Katie Pavlich

Posted on 02/24/2015 3:09:13 PM PST by Kaslin

We already know wind farms kill thousands of birds every year, but now at least one solar panel farm in Nevada is frying birds out of the sky. From Nature World News:

The last thing you'd likely expect is for a new experimental array to literally light nearly 130 birds in mid-flight on fire.

the last thing you'd likely expect is for a new experimental array to literally light nearly 130 birds in mid-flight on fire.

And yet, that's exactly what happened near Tonopah, Nevada last month during tests of the 110-megawatt Crescent Dunes Solar Energy Project.

According to Rudy Evenson, Deputy Chief of Communications for Nevada Bureau of Land Management (NBLM) in Reno, as reported by Re Wire, a third of the newly constructed plant was put into action on the morning of Jan. 14, redirecting concentrated solar energy to a point 1,200 feet above the ground.

Unfortunately, about two hours into the test, engineers and biologists on site started noticing "streamers" - trails of smoke and steam caused by birds flying directly into the field of solar radiation. What moisture was on them instantly vaporized, and some instantly burst into flames - at least, until they began to frantically flap away. An estimated 130 birds were injured or killed during the test.

I wonder if it smelled like chicken...

The good news is, the problem that cause the bird fry in the sky has been fixed. The plant opens in March.


TOPICS: News/Current Events
KEYWORDS: energy; solar
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To: Kaslin
I'm confused. I thought a solar panel farm was made up of photovoltaic panels. This sound like a mirror system that concentrates sunlight into a small area to create steam to drive a turbo generator. Here is such a mirror farm. The bright flash of light are birds being vaporized.


21 posted on 02/24/2015 5:32:14 PM PST by jonrick46 (The opium of Communists: other people's money.)
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To: jonrick46

Correct, this one collects heat, not photons. This one focuses it to melt salt. The immense heat in the system can produce power after the sun goes down.


22 posted on 02/24/2015 5:56:40 PM PST by thackney (life is fragile, handle with prayer)
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To: Mister Da

repositioned some of the mirrors to reduce the extreme heat. —

Slow cooking. Too fast turns the meat to charcoal.


23 posted on 02/24/2015 7:06:38 PM PST by Scrambler Bob (Bo: capitalized is the dog.)
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To: Kaslin

Also Calif; Delta Smelt.


24 posted on 02/24/2015 7:08:42 PM PST by Scrambler Bob (Bo: capitalized is the dog.)
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To: All


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25 posted on 02/24/2015 7:11:23 PM PST by musicman (Until I see the REAL Long Form Vault BC, he's just "PRES__ENT" Obama = Without "ID")
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To: Kaslin

The road to hell is paved in good intentions. Unfortunately, the climate change chicken littles are emboding a big fat lie. They will do anything for a buck.


26 posted on 02/25/2015 6:16:36 AM PST by SaraJohnson
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