Solar Farm in Ivanpah is closing.
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October 5th, 2025 at 4:48:58 PM
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Anyone who has driven from Vegas to LA has passed the massive solar farm just past the state line.
Built in the 2010s at a cost exceeding $2 billion, the farm is no longer economically viable. The technology has advanced so rapidly, and the cost of new panels has dropped so drastically, that it is now cheaper to build new farms than to maintain the older style ones.
What does one do with five miles' worth of obsolete solar panels?
Built in the 2010s at a cost exceeding $2 billion, the farm is no longer economically viable. The technology has advanced so rapidly, and the cost of new panels has dropped so drastically, that it is now cheaper to build new farms than to maintain the older style ones.
What does one do with five miles' worth of obsolete solar panels?
The older I get, the better I recall things that never happened
October 5th, 2025 at 5:20:41 PM
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Does the $2 billion include the 3 concentrator plants, or just the photovoltaic collector?
My instinct is to leave it catching photons and pushing electrons as long as possible. Hopefully the mode of failure as panels fail allows the much of the rest of the system to keep functioning.
At some point, the wiring will be economical to salvage.
My instinct is to leave it catching photons and pushing electrons as long as possible. Hopefully the mode of failure as panels fail allows the much of the rest of the system to keep functioning.
At some point, the wiring will be economical to salvage.
May the cards fall in your favor.
October 5th, 2025 at 6:12:37 PM
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The farm had a contract to sell energy to utlities. The Utilities can now get the electricity elsewhere cheaper and terminate the contract. Without a market for their product, any business must shut down.
The older I get, the better I recall things that never happened
October 5th, 2025 at 6:34:45 PM
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They're going to end up being bought for pennies and put on people's roofs by the scammers.
It was never economically viable. Solar energy for general energy production is a great big waste. All that land being consumed, and the panels are constantly deteriorating, and at a faster real-world rate than the salesmen claim. All the money was made by the people in it at the beginning.
It was never economically viable. Solar energy for general energy production is a great big waste. All that land being consumed, and the panels are constantly deteriorating, and at a faster real-world rate than the salesmen claim. All the money was made by the people in it at the beginning.
October 6th, 2025 at 12:39:04 AM
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Wait a sec…
I thought Ivanpah was a mirror and water system where the mirrors concentrate the solar heat onto a water tank which then boils, creating steam to turn turbines.
IE. Those are not the kinds of things you can reuse residentially.
I thought Ivanpah was a mirror and water system where the mirrors concentrate the solar heat onto a water tank which then boils, creating steam to turn turbines.
IE. Those are not the kinds of things you can reuse residentially.
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October 6th, 2025 at 1:15:16 AM
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Quote: DJTeddyBearWait a sec…
I thought Ivanpah was a mirror and water system where the mirrors concentrate the solar heat onto a water tank which then boils, creating steam to turn turbines.
IE. Those are not the kinds of things you can reuse residentially.
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You're right! I just looked it up, it is that kind of technology.
No chance of that being palmed off on homeowners, but I think the cement plants might have use for that equipment. Making Portland cement is a very energy hungry process and if they could heat their kilns or even just preheat their feedstock directly with solar that would save them a bit of money.
October 6th, 2025 at 3:49:06 AM
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Quote: AutomaticMonkeyQuote: DJTeddyBearWait a sec…
I thought Ivanpah was a mirror and water system where the mirrors concentrate the solar heat onto a water tank which then boils, creating steam to turn turbines.
IE. Those are not the kinds of things you can reuse residentially.
link to original post
You're right! I just looked it up, it is that kind of technology.
No chance of that being palmed off on homeowners, but I think the cement plants might have use for that equipment. Making Portland cement is a very energy hungry process and if they could heat their kilns or even just preheat their feedstock directly with solar that would save them a bit of money.
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Most of the cement factories I've been to don't have 1200 spare acres to dedicate to a mirror field.
The rest of the cement factories I've been to kick up too much dust for the mirrors to keep mirroring.
May the cards fall in your favor.
