Nevada Solar One

Nevada Solar One near Boulder City in the U.S. state of Nevada is the third largest solar thermal power plant in the world. The grid gone in June 2007, 64- MW plant was created by the U.S. Department of Energy, DOE, the National Renewable Energy Laboratory NREL and the company Solargenix Energy. The Spanish Acciona Group acquired 55 % of Solargenix and is now owner of the large-scale plant, which extends over 1.4 km ².

The solar trough power plant uses 19,300 receiver tubes (Schott PTR70 ) of four meters in length, which were developed and manufactured by the German company Schott. With a circulating through pipes oil, which is heated by the mirror at 400 degrees Celsius, steam is generated in a heat exchanger. A Siemens steam turbine SST- 700 (electric power: 64 MW ) drives the vapor to a generator to produce electricity. So can be supplied with electricity in an environmentally friendly way 15,000 households.

Nevada Solar One was the first solar power plant in the United States after 15 years and is regarded as another milestone in the history of electricity from renewable energy sources in the United States. The plant, from the initial spark for the new beginning of solar thermal power plants in the southwestern United States is expected to be extended to up to 200 MW. Nevada wants to meet its electricity needs by 2015 to 20 percent by solar power.