Guardian supplying solar mirrors for world's largest solar thermal power plant under construction

Guardian Industriesannounced that the company’s EcoGuard Solar Boost mirrors are being installed at the Ivanpah Solar Electric Generating System in California's Mojave Desert. The project, a partnership between NRG Solar, Google and BrightSource Energy, will nearly double the amount of solar thermal energy produced in the U.S. today, according to an April 4 Guardian release.

Guardian started supplying the first of 160,000 of its EcoGuard Solar Boost mirrors to ISEGS in November 2011.

"EcoGuard Solar Boost has been proven to withstand the extreme conditions found in the Mojave Desert," said Martin Bracamonte, vice president, Science & Technology, Guardian Flat Glass Group, in the release. "The technology used in manufacturing the glass gives it the extra edge in being a more durable and reliable resource to maximize capturing the sun's energy for large-scale use."

At the Ivanpah solar plant, thousands of software-controlled mirrors track the sun in two dimensions and reflect the sunlight to a boiler that sits atop a tower. When the concentrated sunlight strikes the boiler’s pipes, it heats the water to create superheated steam. This high-temperature steam is then piped from the boiler to a standard turbine where electricity is generated.

Located in Ivanpah, Calif., about five miles from the California/Nevada border, on federal land managed by the Bureau of Land Management, Guardian EcoGuard Solar Boost mirrors will help deliver energy from the sun to more than 140,000 homes in California, during the peak hours of the day.