Solar Electricity Generating Systems (SEGS)

The Solar Electricity Generating Systems (SEGS) are a set of nine solar thermal power plants located at three separate facilities in California's Mojave Desert. The plants use parabolic trough reflectors with adjustable pitch to focus sunlight on clear tubes containing a synthetic oil running along the reflectors' focal lines. ^{1   2}  

The plants, which have a combined peak capacity of 354 megawatts, and an average output of around 75 megawatts, comprise the largest solar installation in the world. Power from the SEGS plants is sold to Southern California Edison under long-term contracts.

In 2005, the five plants at Kramer Junction (SEGS III-VII) were acquired by FPL Energy and Carlyle/Riverstone.

SEGS plant history and operational data

Plant	Year built	Location	Net turbine capacity	Field area	Gross solar production of electricity (megawatt-hours)
			megawatts	square meters	1996	average 1998–2002
SEGS I	1984	Daggett	14	82,960	19,900	16,500
SEGS II	1985	Daggett	30	165,376	36,000	32,500
SEGS III	1986	Kramer Jct.	30	230,300	64,170	68,555
SEGS IV	1986	Kramer Jct.	30	230,300	61,970	68,278
SEGS V	1987	Kramer Jct.	30	233,120	71,439	72,879
SEGS VI	1988	Kramer Jct.	30	188,000	71,409	67,758
SEGS VII	1988	Kramer Jct.	30	194,280	70,138	65,048
SEGS VIII	1989	Harper Lake	80	464,340	139,174	137,990
SEGS IX	1990	Harper Lake	80	483,960	141,916	125,036

Sources: ^{3   4   5   6}  

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References

1. Kramer Junction Solar Electric Generating Station, clui.org, [cached]
2. About Parabolic Trough Solar, theFraserDomain.typepad.com, 10/3/2005 [cached]
3. Solargenix Energy: Natural Power for Good, ieee.org,
4. An overview of the Kramer Junction SEGS recent performance, NREL.gov, 1999
5. Parabolic trough technology overview, ORNL.gov,
6. Solar Trough Power Plants, OSTI.gov,