Problems With Solar Panels In The Desert

Concentrating solar plants in the mojave desert have brought up issues of water use because concentrating solar power plants with wet cooling systems have high water consumption intensities compared to other types of electric power plants.

Problems with solar panels in the desert.

Water is an issue for concentrating solar power csp plants like ivanpah the largest solar thermal plant in the world. It has been said that all of the us could be powered by a solar array covering 100 x 100 square miles in the desert linked to storage batteries covering 1 x 1 square mile. This would mean more rainfall especially in the sahel. This means the surface would warm causing air to rise and form clouds.

The most significant engineering challenges facing desert solar are windblown sand lack of water and transmission lines. Desert environments pose particularly unique climatic challenges and stress to every single component of a solar pv system including the inverters mounting systems and of course solar pv modules. A similar claim is that covering 0 6 of the nation s land with solar panels could power the entire country. Csp technology uses mirrors to concentrate the sun s rays to a liquid filled collector that heats up and produces steam to power a turbine creating electricity.

That is equal to 11 200 000 acres or 17 500 square miles more than the 10 000 square miles of the first estimate. Only fossil fuel plants with carbon capture and storage may have higher water intensities. A similar project has been proposed in the united arab emirates and would avoid the struggles of placing photovoltaic panels under intense heat.