Solar Energy

Photo: stock xchng

Background

Solar electric systems catch the energy directly from the sun resulting in no emissions. It is cost effective for homes and businesses, and with time, it has been getting cheaper. Solar energy in quantity requires huge installations and thus a large footprint on the landscape. It has been estimated that an area of 60 square miles in relatively clear central Oregon would have to be covered with solar cells in order to meet the present electric needs of that state. About 10% of the cells have to be replaced each year, but the big problem is how to store significant amounts of electricity when the Sun is not available to produce it. That problem remains unsolved.

Construction of the largest solar thermal power plant to be built in 15 years, in Boulder City, Nevada, is nearly complete. In addition, the 64MW Nevada Solar One power plant will generate enough power to meet the electricity needs of about 40,000 households and follows in the steps of the 354MW solar thermal power plants located in California’s Mojave Desert. While California’s solar plants have generated billions of kilowatt hours of electricity for the past two decades, the Nevada Solar One plant will use new technologies to capture even more energy from the sun.

Impacts on birds 

The main impact on birds is due to the large footprint needed for commercial-scale energy production. In addition, there has been some data on bird strikes. Researchers, who have studied avian mortality at Solar One over a 40-week period, documented the death of 70 birds (of 26 species). The estimated morality rate was 1.9-2.2 birds per week; 57 birds (81%) of 20 species died from collisions with Solar One structures, mainly the mirrored surfaces of heliostats; 13 birds (19%) of 7 species died from burns received by flying through "standby" points. The impact of this mortality on the local bird population was found to be minimal (0.6-0.7% per week).