REAL LIFE NEWS: SOLAR POWER STATION SETS FIRE TO ITSELF
by Hazed
A giant solar power station in California suffered a fire last week, and investigators are blaming the plant itself for starting the conflagration. Yes, it set itself on fire.
The Ivanpah Solar Electric Generating System (ISEGS) is the world’s largest solar power plant. It consists of 173,500 heliostats, each with two mirrors, which focus sunlight to boilers located at the top of three 459-foot towers. This concentrated heat boils water, which provides steam to drive turbines, thus producing electricity. See the source link below for pictures.
Unfortunately, some of the mirrors became misaligned and they set fire to electrical cables in one of the towers. Firefighters had to climb 300 feet up the tower to get to the scene of the fire.
The plant is currently working at just a third of its capacity while repairs are carried out.
It just goes to show that solar power may be green, but it’s still dangerous.
Source: http://gizmodo.com/the-world-s-largest-solar-plant-just-torched-itself-1777767880
