Ivanpah Solar "Farm"

[Smokin Hole]

Sorry if this has been asked. A search of "Ivanpah" yields nothing. As any pilot flying during daylight within 200 NM of LAS knows, the 3 solar generators 40 NM southwest of the city are now a more prominent feature than Vegas itself. It is by far the brightest earthly thing I have ever seen from the cockpit. Even when not reflecting sunlight, the huge circular mirror arrays can be seen from a large distance. I honestly don't know if the NTTR even covers Nipton, CA but if it does, lacking Ivanpah dates the scenery somewhat.

 

[Mods: This might better qualify as a wish rather than "research". Please move the thread if you think that's best. Thank you. ]

Edited September 22, 2015 by Smokin Hole
Possibly posted in wrong spot

[Smokin Hole]

Sorry for the awful quality. This is heavily cropped from an iPhone photo taken today from about 70 NM away.

 

This is the NOTAM issued last year as a result from pilot concerns...

 

FDC 4/2243 - CA..AIRSPACE IVANPAH DRY LAKE, CA. SOLAR

POWERPLANT GLARE THE LAS VEGAS / LAS / VORTAC 193 RADIAL RADIAL 36

NAUTICAL MILES TO THE LAS VEGAS / LAS / VORTAC 189 RADIAL RADIAL 34

NAUTICAL MILES. THIS PLANT COVERS APPROXIMATELY 3,500 ACRES WEST OF

INTERSTATE HIGHWAY 15 NEAR THE CALIFORNIA-NEVADA STATE LINE WITH

ROUGHLY 175,000 MIRRORS SURROUNDING EACH OF THREE COLLECTION TOWERS.

THESE TOWERS EMPLOY A NEW TECHNOLOGY THAT HAS NOT BEEN UTILIZED AT

THIS LEVEL BEFORE, CREATING A SOLAR GLARE EFFECT IN THE AIRCRAFT.

LOS ANGELES AIR ROUTE TRAFFIC CONTROL CENTER (ARTCC) AND LAS VEGAS

TERMINAL RADAR APPROACH CONTROL (TRACON) BEGAN RECEIVING NUMEROUS

PILOT REPORTS OF GLARE ASSOCIATED WITH THE POWERPLANT SINCE THE

FACILITY BEGAN PRODUCTION. TO APPROPRIATELY DOCUMENT THESE

CONDITIONS, PILOTS AND OTHER AIR CREW MEMBERS ARE URGED TO UTILIZE

NASA'S AVIATION SAFETY REPORTING SYSTEM (ASRS) AND PROVIDE AN

ELECTRONIC REPORT SUBMISSION (ERS) VIA THE WEB AT

http://HTTP://ASRS.ARC.NASA.GOV/REPORT/ELECTRONIC/HTML SOLAR POWERPLANT

GLARE MAY BE INJURIOUS TO PILOTS'/PASSENGERS' EYES FROM SURFACE TO

UNLIMITED ALITITUDE FROM GLARE SOURCE. FLASH BLINDNESS OR COCKPIT

END PART 1 OF 2. 24 DEC 21:30 2014 UNTIL 31 DEC 15:59 2016 ESTIMATED. CREATED:

24 DEC 21:31 2014

[average_pilot]

Strangely beautiful sight nonetheless

[ggerman]

Sorry if this has been asked. A search of "Ivanpah" yields nothing. As any pilot flying during daylight within 200 NM of LAS knows, the 3 solar generators 40 NM southwest of the city are now a more prominent feature than Vegas itself. It is by far the brightest earthly thing I have ever seen from the cockpit. Even when not reflecting sunlight, the huge circular mirror arrays can be seen from a large distance. I honestly don't know if the NTTR even covers Nipton, CA but if it does, lacking Ivanpah dates the scenery somewhat.

 

[Mods: This might better qualify as a wish rather than "research". Please move the thread if you think that's best. Thank you. ]

 

http://www.bechtel.com/projects/ivanpah-solar-electric-generating-system/

Edited September 24, 2015 by ggerman

[some1]

So if I drop a bomb on those mirrors, how many years of bad luck do I get?

[XeNoise]

So if I drop a bomb on those mirrors, how many years of bad luck do I get?

 

I would rather calculate it in usd rather than in years