VOTE: Do you still have confidence in large-scale solar energy projects?

SAN BERNARDINO COUNTY, Calif. (FOX26) — A solar energy plant once touted as the world’s largest has struggled to live up to expectations, raising questions about the effectiveness of some large-scale renewable energy projects in the state.

The Ivanpah Solar Energy Plant, completed in 2014 by Solar Partners BrightSource, was designed to power more than 100,000 homes.

The facility uses thousands of heliostat mirrors to focus sunlight onto three power towers to generate electricity.

However, since its opening, Ivanpah has consistently fallen short of the projected energy output, despite its ambitious design and the high hopes surrounding the project.

Steve Milloy of JunkScience.com, spoke to Fox Business last month, said the plant’s shortcomings were apparent from the start.

“Yeah, well, Google’s Ivanpah Plant was a disaster from the start,” Milloy said. “I have been writing about this since 2014 when it opened. It’s really just an inefficient gas plant masquerading as a solar plant.”

Officials and energy experts have previously cited operational inefficiencies, maintenance challenges, and environmental factors as reasons the plant has underperformed.

The full cost of the Ivanpah project and other concerns about the facility’s performance will be examined in an upcoming report.

Do you still have confidence in large-scale solar energy projects?

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