I was on a road trip recently and I came across the SOLANA GENERATING STATION located near Phoenix Arizona, in Gila Bend.
I was amazed, the Solana solar plant is the 3rd largest in the world covering over 3 square miles of land. Arizona is a suitable place to build a large solar plant because it is a sunny state. A wonderful feature of this particular plant is the Concentrated Solar Thermal. The use of CST is storing energy when it is dark.
The construction of this plant signified the beginning of the reign of solar power as it was expected to generate 32 megawatts and power over 8500 homes. Alas, the plant has been beset with troubles since it became operational in 2013.
Solana's solar field contains about 900,000 parabolic mirrors, using a technology much different from the photovoltaic panels seen on many rooftops in metro Phoenix. To generate electricity, Solana's mirrors collect sunlight and focus it on tubes that contain a molten material, which heats up to more than 530 degrees Fahrenheit. The hot liquid is then pumped to two steam turbines that can put out a combined maximum 280 megawatts. About 30 megawatts of the electricity generated is needed to run the plant.
Its troubles began in 2014 when a specific machine whose function was to ensure that the oxides of nitrogen were not released to the earth’s atmosphere got faulty. The management did not perform required checks to ensure that the equipment was working properly. The plant has also battled leaks from containers, fire outbreaks and issues concerning low wages to employees.
Another major issue was the air pollution problems, in 2014; the company was investigated to find out if they had failed to keep the air quality rules. They were a fined a whopping 1.5 million dollars for not maintaining air quality standards. Due to these issues, they have not been able to keep up to their promises.
Solana did generate more electricity in its second year but is still well below its advertised potential. The plant did worse the second quarter of 2016 than it did in the same period in 2015. And with a July 2016 “microburst", the plant's third-quarter results for 2016 were abysmal.
Shout out to 
, I saw her article on Solar Power and remembered I should post something about Solana!
https://steemit.com/technology/@chiama/solar-power-mtn-lumos-making-solar-energy-affordable
Cheers!
SY-
