SOLAR POWER TOWER COMES ONLINE

eSolar Ushers in New Era of Solar Energy with Unveiling of Sierra Power Plant; Company’s Breakthrough Technology Enables New Blueprint for Solar Thermal Deployment
August 5, 2009 (Idealab/eSolar)

"With 24,000 mirrors glimmering under the Antelope Valley summer sun, eSolar, a leading provider of modular, scalable solar thermal power technology, today unveiled its 5-megawatt (MW) Sierra SunTower solar power plant. The full-scale power plant, the only power tower of its kind in the U.S., produces electricity for Southern California Edison…and can power more than 4,000 homes…

"The eSolar technology resolves many of the problems that have held back large scale solar in the past including cost, speed of deployment and proximity to existing transmission lines. eSolar uses advanced software algorithms to precisely focus thousands of mirrors on a single point to efficiently harvest the sun’s energy and achieve economies of scale with a smaller footprint than anyone else in the business…"

Sierra SunTower, now online. (click to enlarge)

"Constructed in less than one year, eSolar’s Sierra SunTower power plant marks the first of several developments in the Antelope Valley region using eSolar technology. Over the course of construction, this project created 300 jobs…[with] the support and cooperation of the City of Lancaster throughout the construction process…

"eSolar develops its California projects on parcels of previously disturbed private lands, avoiding many of the permitting and environmental pitfalls of development on pristine desert lands. Located in northern Lancaster, Sierra SunTower is built on private land designated for heavy industrial use. The decision to site projects solely on private land is unique within the utility-scale solar industry, and the distinction has garnered support from local environmental advocates…"

click to enlarge

"Sierra SunTower was fully financed and developed by eSolar, proving the rapid deployment, pre-fabricated method eSolar patented and pioneered. Building on Sierra’s success, eSolar will deploy many more plants around the country and around the world.

"In February, eSolar announced an agreement with NRG Energy, Inc…to develop three plants in California and New Mexico that will generate up to 465 megawatts of electricity…[I]n March, eSolar licensed its technology to India-based ACME Group for approximately 1 gigawatt of eSolar solar thermal capacity…"