Solar energy plants
 
 
Strategies for combating climate change need to be based on the development of renewable energy technologies – a fact that has been acknowledged by both the United Nations and the European Union. Deserts are especially well suited as sites for large solar power plants. Some countries have risen to this challenge to transform arid lands into a resource.

The Mojave is the sunniest desert in the US, and it also contains towns of a substantial size within its confines. These two factors make the region eminently suitable for the building of solar power plants. Solar Energy Generating Systems (SEGS) in the Mojave desert is a complex of solar power plants with a combined capacity of 354 MW – the largest in the world.

There is another large solar power plant located in a desert in the US: Nevada Solar One, near Boulder City, Nevada, with a capacity of 64 MW. In Europe, Spain has led the way, building the Sanlucar De Mayor power plant in Andalusia. Known as PS10, it consists of a giant “monolith” that collects the rays reflected by 624 rotating mirrors. Germany, meanwhile, has embarked on the Desertec project to construct a huge power plant in the Sahara desert, which is to be connected to Europe. China and Middle Eastern countries have reportedly shown interest in this type of technology.


 

 
Download image: GeoEye-1 image of one of the power plants SEGS (Solar Energy Generating Systems),
in the Mojave Desert, California, USA

 

 
Download image: GeoEye-1 image of Nevada Solar One, Nevada desert, USA



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