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Old 03-09-2016, 07:22 PM
 
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Quote:
Originally Posted by jamies View Post
Isn't the largest solar array in the country outside of Phoenix? The one that has been cooking birds that try to fly over it?
That is in California in the Mohave Desert, it's called the Ivanpah Solar Power Facility.


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Old 03-09-2016, 09:32 PM
 
Location: When you take flak it means you are on target
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Ah - well isn't it on the "way" to Phoenix?

I haven't been west of the Colorado River since the commies took over the coast, so that's probably why I was confused.
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Old 03-09-2016, 09:52 PM
 
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Quote:
Originally Posted by jamies View Post
Ah - well isn't it on the "way" to Phoenix?
It's kind of, sort of, in the "desert neighborhood" of the Southwest!
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Old 03-09-2016, 11:41 PM
 
Location: When you take flak it means you are on target
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^^^ LOL

Well OK, so I was a little off and it's on the way to Vegas. I finally read about it. It's an easy mistake to make, both Vegas and Phoenix are ugly cities filled with Californians in desert valleys with mountains around them. And if you've seen one desert...

I do wish every house had solar panels and solar heating. And if we actually built homes for the environment, instead of building hot boxes and then air conditioning them, we would only need about 1/4th the power we need in conventional homes.

I would like to build a "desert" home. Earthen dam with like one foot thick adobe type walls or straw bale, with a well insulated, reflective roof and adjustable awnings for summer shade. You could probably keep a house like that cool with one window AC unit.
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Old 03-10-2016, 08:46 AM
 
Location: SE Arizona - FINALLY! :D
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Our friends have a home with solar panels. Their average monthly electric bill is ZERO, and they get money back at the end of each year from daytime power "sold" to the power company. So, how is that not efficient?

Ken
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Old 03-10-2016, 08:51 AM
 
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Arizona is an energy exporter, not importer, storage technology is still too primitive, costs haven't intersected with prices that make demand possible without subsidies, utility grid death spiral, etc.

In short it's expensive and impractical in light of how much energy Arizona already produces.

It would be great to go solar en masse but I don't see it for awhile.
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Old 03-10-2016, 09:13 AM
 
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Quote:
Originally Posted by cjseliga View Post
That is in California in the Mohave Desert, it's called the Ivanpah Solar Power Facility.

Solana Solar plant in AZ is still larger by production amount.

In 2015 Ivanpah generated 652 GWh and Solana produced 719 GWh
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Old 03-10-2016, 09:57 AM
 
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Quote:
Originally Posted by ajonesaz View Post
Solana Solar plant in AZ is still larger by production amount.

In 2015 Ivanpah generated 652 GWh and Solana produced 719 GWh
I never thought Ivanpah was the largest or largest energy producer, but it was the one in the news about frying the birds, that's why I posted it. I don't believe Solana has the large towers like Ivanpah where the sun's rays are focused and the birds are fried.
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Old 03-10-2016, 09:29 PM
 
Location: When you take flak it means you are on target
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Quote:
Originally Posted by ajonesaz View Post
Solana Solar plant in AZ is still larger by production amount.

In 2015 Ivanpah generated 652 GWh and Solana produced 719 GWh
There I am vindicated.

We also have four of the largest hydroelectric plants in the country on the Colorado River.

Palo Verde is the largest power plant in the country, not to mention the largest nuclear plant.

AZ is an energy powerhouse!
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Old 03-10-2016, 09:57 PM
 
9,576 posts, read 7,363,553 times
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Quote:
Originally Posted by ajonesaz View Post
Solana Solar plant in AZ is still larger by production amount.

In 2015 Ivanpah generated 652 GWh and Solana produced 719 GWh
I think Solar Star, near Rosamond, CA, is still the king producer. It is a photovoltaic power station where as Ivanpah and Solana are solar thermal power stations.

In 2015 Solar Star 1 produced 865 GWh and Solar Star 2 produced 798 GWh for a combined 1,663 GWh.
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