Solar thermal

Main article: List of solar thermal power stations

The 377 MW Ivanpah Solar Electric Generating System with all three towers under load, Feb 2014. Taken
from I-15.

Solar Towers of the PS10 and PS20solar thermal plants in Spain

The United States conducted much early research in photovoltaics and concentrated solar
power. The U.S. is among the top countries in the world in electricity generated by the Sun and
several of the world's largest utility-scale installations are located in the desert Southwest.
The oldest solar thermal power plant in the world is the 354 megawatt (MW) SEGS thermal
power plant, in California.[97]The Ivanpah Solar Electric Generating System is a solar thermal
power project in the California Mojave Desert, 40 miles (64 km) southwest of Las Vegas, with a
gross capacity of 377 MW.[98] The 280 MW Solana Generating Station is a solar power plant
near Gila Bend, Arizona, about 70 miles (110 km) southwest of Phoenix, completed in 2013.
When commissioned it was the largest parabolic trough plant in the world and the first U.S. solar
plant with molten salt thermal energy storage.[99]
The solar thermal power industry is growing rapidly with 1.3 GW under construction in 2012 and
more planned. Spain is the epicenter of solar thermal power development with 873 MW under
construction, and a further 271 MW under development.[100] In the United States, 5,600 MW of
solar thermal power projects have been announced. [101] Several power plants have been
constructed in the Mojave Desert, Southwestern United States. The Ivanpah Solar Power
Facility being the most recent. In developing countries, three World Bank projects for integrated
solar thermal/combined-cycle gas-turbine power plants in Egypt, Mexico, and Morocco have
been approved.[102]