Crescent Dunes Solar Energy Project

Taken flying over the Crescent Dunes Solar Energy Project near Tonopah, Nevada. Photo taken on my Nikon D7000.

Interesting Tidbit

10,374 huge tracking mirrors focus sunlight onto the central ~200 meter solar power tower. Molten salt stores and transfers heat which is used to create steam and then generate electricity.

The salt also stores heat well, allowing the plant to generate power up to 10 hours after sunlight is unavailable. No backup power systems are needed, which means no fossil fuels and no emissions.

Inane Comments

Original plans for this facility included a weekly supply of 4 truckloads of sunscreen for the mirrors. The design was later switched to a mirror variety that does not sunburn.

If you broke all these mirrors, you'd have 72,618 years of bad luck.

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Interesting picture, thank you.

Thank you @solarcoach!

Molten salt power towers are a thing? I had no idea.

Me neither! I learned about it when I was looking this up.

I would like a molten salt power tower for Christmas. Please make a note of this.

Also, how did you take this photo? Was this from a regular jet plane, or did you charter a flight or something? Maybe you have figured out how to fly? Will you teach me how to fly?

I tamed a dragon. There are some great tips in the animated dramatized documentary How to Train Your Dragon.

_{Yeah I was on a jet plane.}

_{That was a really great documentary.}

Also, I totally ordered a molten salt tower, planning on surprising you for Christmas... But it was completely melted when it arrived! I tried to return it but they wouldn't let me, saying some nonsense about how I should have known from the product description. Bunch of scammers.

Sorry to hear the molten salt tower was melted. That's a huge bummer. You can't trust anyone these days.