Sierra SunTower
Encyclopedia
Sierra SunTower is a 5 MW commercial concentrating solar power (CSP) plant built and operated by eSolar
ESolar
eSolar was founded by the Pasadena-based business incubator Idealab in 2007 as a developer of concentrating solar power plant technology....

. The plant is located in Lancaster, California
Lancaster, California
Lancaster is a charter city in northern Los Angeles County, in the high desert, near the Kern County line. Lancaster currently ranks as the 30th largest city in California, and the 148th largest city in the United States. Lancaster is the principal city within the Antelope Valley...

 and is the only CSP tower facility operating in North America.

Project overview

The Sierra SunTower facility is based on power tower CSP technology. The plant features an array of heliostats which reflect solar radiation to a tower-mounted thermal receiver. The concentrated solar energy boils water in the receiver to produce steam. The steam is piped to a steam turbine generator which converts the energy to electricity. The steam out of the turbine is condensed and pressurized back into the receiver.
In the summer of 2009, eSolar
ESolar
eSolar was founded by the Pasadena-based business incubator Idealab in 2007 as a developer of concentrating solar power plant technology....

 unveiled the 5 MW Sierra SunTower plant, a commercial facility in Lancaster, California
Lancaster, California
Lancaster is a charter city in northern Los Angeles County, in the high desert, near the Kern County line. Lancaster currently ranks as the 30th largest city in California, and the 148th largest city in the United States. Lancaster is the principal city within the Antelope Valley...

 that demonstrates the company's technology. Sierra SunTower is interconnected to the Southern California Edison
Southern California Edison
Southern California Edison , the largest subsidiary of Edison International , is the primary electricity supply company for much of Southern California, USA. It provides 14 million people with electricity...

 (SCE) grid and, as of spring 2010, is the only commercial CSP tower facility in North America.

The project site occupies approximately 8 hectares (20 acres) in an arid valley in the western corner of the Mojave Desert
Mojave Desert
The Mojave Desert occupies a significant portion of southeastern California and smaller parts of central California, southern Nevada, southwestern Utah and northwestern Arizona, in the United States...

 at 35° north latitude, on private farm land.

Sierra SunTower includes two eSolar
ESolar
eSolar was founded by the Pasadena-based business incubator Idealab in 2007 as a developer of concentrating solar power plant technology....

 modules. 24,000 heliostats, divided between four sub-fields, track the sun and focus its energy onto two tower-mounted receivers. The focused heat converts feedwater piped to the receivers into superheated steam that drives a reconditioned 1947 GE
Gê are the people who spoke Ge languages of the northern South American Caribbean coast and Brazil. In Brazil the Gê were found in Rio de Janeiro, Minas Gerais, Bahia, Piaui, Mato Grosso, Goias, Tocantins, Maranhão, and as far south as Paraguay....

 turbine generator to produce electricity. The steam passes through a steam condenser, reverts back to water through cooling, and the process repeats.

During the 12 months of construction, Sierra SunTower created over 300 temporary jobs. In operation, the site employs 21 permanent employees.

Concurrent with the plant’s official unveiling, California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger
Arnold Schwarzenegger
Arnold Alois Schwarzenegger is an Austrian-American former professional bodybuilder, actor, businessman, investor, and politician. Schwarzenegger served as the 38th Governor of California from 2003 until 2011....

 praised the eSolar solution, “…proving that California’s energy and environmental leadership are advancing carbon-free, cost-effective energy that can be used around the world.”

Sierra Suntower has been certified by the California Energy Commission
California Energy Commission
The California Energy Commission is California’s primary energy policy and planning agency. Created in 1974 and headquartered in Sacramento, the Commission has responsibility for activities that include forecasting future energy needs, promoting energy efficiency through appliance and building...

 as a renewable energy facility. Power from the facility is sold under a Power Purchase Agreement (PPA) with SCE
Southern California Edison
Southern California Edison , the largest subsidiary of Edison International , is the primary electricity supply company for much of Southern California, USA. It provides 14 million people with electricity...

, providing clean, renewable energy for up to 4,000 homes.

The 5 MW output from Sierra SunTower reduces CO2 emissions by 7,000 tons per year, an amount equivalent to planting 5265 acres (21.3 km²) of trees, removing 1,368 automobiles from the road, or saving 650,000 gallons of gasoline.

Sierra SunTower was designed to validate eSolar's technology at full scale, effectively eliminating scaleup risks. The solar thermal equipment operating at Sierra SunTower forms a blueprint from which future plants will be built.

Awards

In December 2009, editors of Power Engineering magazine selected Sierra SunTower as the winner of the “Best Renewable Project”. Each year, Power Engineering magazine recognizes the world's best energy projects. The award distinguishes Sierra as an exceptional power generation project toward meeting growing global demand.

In February 2010, Sierra SunTower won Renewable Energy World’s “Renewable Project of the Year” award. The award recognizes eSolar's achievements in the clean energy industry by naming Sierra SunTower an exceptional breakthrough in the commercialization of solar thermal technology.

See also

  • List of concentrating solar thermal power companies
  • List of photovoltaic power stations
  • List of solar thermal power stations
  • Renewable energy in the United States
    Renewable energy in the United States
    Renewable energy accounted for 14.3 percent of the domestically produced electricity in the United States in the first six months of 2011. Hydroelectricity is the largest producer of renewable power in the United States. In 2009, the U.S...

  • Renewable portfolio standard
    Renewable Portfolio Standard
    A Renewable Portfolio Standard is a regulation that requires the increased production of energy from renewable energy sources, such as wind, solar, biomass, and geothermal...

  • Solar power in the United States
    Solar power in the United States
    Solar power in the United States is an area of considerable activity and there are many utility-scale solar power plants. The largest solar power installation in the world is the Solar Energy Generating Systems facility in California, which has a total capacity of 354 megawatts...

  • Solar power plants in the Mojave Desert
    Solar power plants in the Mojave Desert
    There are several solar power plants in the Mojave Desert which supply power to the electricity grid. Solar Energy Generating Systems is the name given to nine solar power plants in the Mojave Desert which were built in the 1980s. These plants have a combined capacity of 354 megawatts making them...


External links

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