Supersized sun power.
At the end of 2004, the United States United States, officially United States of America, republic (2005 est. pop. 295,734,000), 3,539,227 sq mi (9,166,598 sq km), North America. The United States is the world's third largest country in population and the fourth largest country in area. had 397 megawatts of solar energy solar energy, any form of energy radiated by the sun, including light, radio waves, and X rays, although the term usually refers to the visible light of the sun. capacity. Now two Southern California Southern California, also colloquially known as SoCal, is the southern portion of the U.S. state of California. Centered on the cities of Los Angeles and San Diego, Southern California is home to nearly 24 million people and is the nation's second most populated region, utility companies plan to harness the state's abundant sunshine for two solar-powered plants that will produce more electricity than all of those solar energy projects combined. The new plants will use 40-foot dishes to focus the sun's energy onto Stifling engines, sealed systems Sealed systems are computer systems that are designed to be supplied as a sealed unit. The major benefits are security, reliability, ease of installation and upgrade, and locked down so users can't make changes that would compromise the integrity of the system. filled with hydrogen that, when heated with the solar energy, drive four pistons. A 500-megawatt power plant of 20,000 dishes will be located in the Mojave Desert, while a 300-megawatt plant of 12,000 dishes will call the Imperial Valley home. Construction will begin on the sites in 2008.
COPYRIGHT 2006 National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences
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