Last year, my wife and I traveled to Salt Lake City. Rather than take the well-traveled highways, we opted to take a more wandering route. So north of Las Vegas, we pulled off the main road, and right away, we saw this really cool solar power generating plant. Or perhaps I should say a really hot solar power generating plant!
I've seen plenty of wind power plants, but not many solar ones. It was neat to drive past these long lines of panels soaking up the sun, and think of all the free energy they were collecting. I found the towers really intriguing. I wonder what their purpose is?
Since that day, I've watched a movie called Sahara, based on a Clive Cussler novel. The movie follows Dirk Pitt, a treasure hunter/explorer, as he and his team search for a lost Civil War battleship in the African desert. The movie is a little like an Indiana Jones movie, or the Mummy movies starring Brendan Frasier.
In Sahara, Dirk and his team are on the run from the villains pursuing them when they come across a modern solar power station. Unfortunately, the facility is run by the bad guys, and the power they're producing isn't as "clean" as solar power is supposed to be. While they investigate the site, Dirk and his team get captured. They have to fight for their lives, as well as the welfare of the entire world. At one point, they battle the bad guys atop a tower very much like the ones in the photo above.
The facility in the above photo appears to be called the Southern Paiute Solar Project, operated by a company called First Solar. It's located on an Indian reservation, where it benefits the local Native American population. The energy collected there is transferred via transmission lines hundreds of miles to power over 100,000 homes in Los Angeles, California.
As you can imagine, that's just a small portion of Los Angeles' energy needs. Still, I remember being given demonstrations on the potential of solar power way back in elementary school. It's great to finally see a plant like that in action, and know the energy it's producing doesn't come from coal or gas, which cause pollution and contribute to global warming.
Say, I wonder if there's a civil war battleship, buried out there under dirt and sand, on the Moapa River Indian Reservation. You never know: it might be worth checking out. Anyone got Dirk Pitt's phone number?
Dragon Dave
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