Power In The Desert: Ivanpah On The Verge

Left to right, towers 1, 2 and 3, where heliostat installation was near completion. (image via BrightSource Energy)

Awesome or a blight on the desert? See Ivanpah, near completion in the Mojave, in all its glory. Read more →

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Solar Tower With Storage Advances In Nevada

crescent dunes solarreserve

SolarReserve reports that the receiving unit for its Crescent Dunes solar power tower, with molten salt storage tech, is in place. Read more →

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What The Flux: BrightSource Heats Up Solar Tower

ivanpah brightsource

The massive Ivanpah power-tower solar energy plant is in the home stretch of development, having achieved "first flux," BrightSource Energy says. Read more →

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Solar With Storage Coming To California, At A Cost

power tower energy storage rice solar power

California regulators approve a power-tower solar plant with energy storage, saying the ability to produce power on demand justifies its high price. Read more →

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Concentrating Solar: Can Storage Save Its Bacon?

Crescent Dunes CPS project under construction in Nevada (image via SolarReserve)

Some say CSP can't compete with cheap PV, but the industry points to studies showing cost advantages when thermal storage is employed. Read more →

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Solar Power Tower Going Up In South Africa

abengoa power tower south africa

Abengoa takes its solar power tower technology outside Spain, starting work on a 50 megawatt project in South Africa, which is also getting a 100 MW parabolic trough plant. Read more →

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BrightSource Eyes More Power Towers With Cash Infusion

bloomberg clean energy investment

Concentrating solar might be struggling, but BrightSource Energy just raised $80 million in equity investment, and won regulator approval for two (of five) power purchase deals. Read more →

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Does Power Tower Solar Harm Birds And Bats?

ivanpah birds power tower

A U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service official wants new power tower solar plant approvals delayed until monitoring data on their avian impacts comes in. Read more →

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Energy Tower Visionary: How It Works [INTERVIEW]

image via Dan Zaslavsky

The mastermind behind the novel Energy Tower, Dan Zaslavsky, says the technology uses a principle that's been known for hundreds of years. Read more →

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Solar Tower, All 540 Feet, Rises In Nevada Desert

crescent dunes tower

With the tower now built, SolarReserve says the 110-MW Crescent Dunes power plant, with molten-salt energy storage, is on course for a 2013 opening. Read more →

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