Solar Energy Creating Economic Boom for Nevada
The American Southwest has some of the best solar resources on the globe. Nevada, with abundant land and sunshine is becoming a hot bed for the solar industry. The result is green jobs and billions of investment dollars.
Solar Panel Manufacturing
The opening of Ausra’s solar thermal power factory earlier this week in Las Vegas is a prime example. As the largest plant of its kind in the world, it employs 50 factory workers. At full capacity, the plant can generate 700 MW of solar panels, which could produce enough power for 500,000 homes. This quantity of panels would create an estimated 1,400 solar plant construction jobs.
The factory will produce giant mirrors and absorber tubes that are used for solar power plants. This technology uses the sun to generate heat and spin turbines, thus creating electricity. The giant mirrors follow the sun and reflect it onto fixed absorber tubes that are mounted above.
“Nevada is poised to be a leader in the clean energy revolution,” said U.S. Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-NV). “This facility will help position our state as the premiere place to invest in these new technologies. As the factory expands operations and we continue to invest in clean energy, we’ll create thousands of good-paying jobs and keep our outdoors pristine for future generations.”
Solar Power Plants
Solar projects totaling more than 10,000 MW have land requests from the Bureau of Land Management in Southern Nevada. If constructed, these solar plants would bring over $40 billion of investment to Nevada.
Power plants benefit the economy in the short-term by creating large quantities of construction jobs. In the long-term, they create plant operations jobs, tax revenue, raise property values, and generate income through land leases. A recent example is Acciona’s Nevada Solar One, located in Boulder City, NV.
As the third largest solar concentrated plant in the world, its maximum output is 75 MW of electricity. It generates enough power for 15,000 homes annually and had a cost of $260 million. Operating since June, 2007, there are 300 acres of solar fields. The plant will produce peak power, with nearly zero carbon emissions and created approximately 28 operations related jobs.
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Photo: Ausra’s facility in New South Wales, Australia. Courtesy Ausra.
SouthWest USA is like the Middle East for Solar power, beaten only by the, eh, Middle East. (North Africa) But here we have an interesting combination:
1) Lots of sunlight
2) Lots of open, uninhabited land
3) Clear/sunny weather year-round
4) Lots of wealthy people nearby. (California and Texas)
The sooner that the United States realizes the power of solar power, the better off it will be.
This is wonderful news what with all the public lands being leased. I can’t wait for my yearly check to be mailed to me from these leases. How much is each person in the USA going to receive? Whats that you say even with the public lands being leased in Alaska to the Oil Companies that no one will ever receive one red cent. It sounds like the public is being robbed.
[...] Solar Power Goes BOOM in Nevada The American Southwest has some of the best solar resources on the globe. Nevada, with abundant land and sunshine is becoming a hot bed for the solar industry. The result is green jobs and billions of investment dollars. Solar Energy Creating Economic Boom for Nevada : CleanTechnica [...]
Solar Power Goes BOOM in Nevada | nerdd.net…
\r\nThe American Southwest has some of the best solar resources on the globe. Nevada, with abundant…
Joe Spreitzer - you seem to have the idea that we live in a communist state where everybody owns everything.
Yeah but guess what? The Bureau of Land Management (BLM)has just refused to take any more proposals for new projects on public land. The oil industry paymasters have shut down the solar industry in one fell swoop. Solar power will not be allowed to cut into the their profits period. What a government we have if you can call it that.
Kilgore- That BLM actually overturned this a couple days ago.
http://www.lasvegassun.com/news/2008/jul/02/solar-application-moratorium-called-off/
likwidshoe you seem to live in a communist country where the government owns everything and you own nothing. I live in America where the people own public lands and BLM only manages them. BLM does not nor ever will own them.
It’s not a sustainable source of energy. Sure that supplies 500,000 homes, but the amount of solar panels that would be needed to supply the world (factories, public buildings, coliseums, etc.) would take up way to much land.
Hope is always welcomed! Hats off to Nevada for being ground zero for the solar boom!! Not only is there hope for the solution to our energy/oil crisis, but they are offering solutions for the environmentally aware as well as creating jobs which is another field of education, and let’s not forget how this could pull out our economy!!
Again, my vote (as usual) is let us embrace change for the good!!!