staff at the Ivanpah solar thermal plant coined the term "streamers" for the birds that would fall from the sky, trailing a stream of smoke, after flying into the concentrated solar flux 
https://twitter.com/D1C0MM/status/1403379328675508227
desert solar installations cause a tremendous amount of habitat destruction and harm endangered species.
we could have solar panels on every roof in the country instead but there's more profit to be made destroying nature to build green energy
we could have solar panels on every roof in the country instead but there's more profit to be made destroying nature to build green energy
(image is from Crescent Dunes, not Ivanpah: basinandrangewatch.org/CrescentDune.h…)
I've been to the Crescent Dunes Solar Energy Project and photographed it while it's operating. In the silent desert it is an ominous, unsettling prescence.
The solar irradiance is so intense you can see the beams off the heliostats as they rise to meet the collector.
The solar irradiance is so intense you can see the beams off the heliostats as they rise to meet the collector.
Photovoltaic costs fell so quickly that they've massively outpaced the costs for a solar thermal plant, but large desert PV installations still cause habitat destruction. @BasinRange tweets about this; they're an organization working to reduce habitat damage in the Great Basin.
Crescent Dunes also had major issues with the molten salt used for heat transfer and storage leaking, and ruining workers' lungs with its corrosive fumes: pvtimes.com/news/investiga…
I was out taking photos near the plant last year, and I met a couple of older guys out hunting for chalcedony. One of them used to work on the solar plant.
He told me his boss used a drone to spy on workers to catch them resting under the heliostats, until a hawk got it
He told me his boss used a drone to spy on workers to catch them resting under the heliostats, until a hawk got it
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