While the world’s biggest solar power plant is not reaching its energy target this year, it is frying birds

The world’s largest solar power plant of its kind, also known for incinerating birds, was once promoted as the pinnacle of sustainability. But unfortunately, it did not produce as much energy as was anticipated. One of the primary reasons: not enough sunlight.

The Ivanpah Solar Electric Generating site occupies roughly 5 square miles (13 sq. kilometers) of U.S.- government desert near the border of California and Nevada. The solar array behemoth was meant to generate enough electricity to power 140,000 homes. In reality, the plant has only produced half of its annual output for 2014 according to calculations by California Energy Commission; the array was projected to produce an its full capacity for eight hours a day.

The plant is made up of 300,000 computer-controlled mirrors, each of which measure 7 x 10 feet and reflect sunlight into three boilers located within three 459-foot towers.

According to NRG Energy Inc., the company that operates the plant and co-owns it with Google Inc. and BrightSource energy, it could potentially take up until 2018 before the plant reaches its annual peak target.

Source: Phys.org