The Solar Two: Part of the History of Solar Power

Solar Two is the name given to the facility that once had the ability to redirect an enormous amount of energy, and produce up to 10 megawatts of electricity. It used a method where many mirrors concentrated sunlight onto a tower through which molten salt ran as a "storage medium" for the energy as opposed to oil or water, which had been used previously. The point of this was to figure out the most efficient way to store large amounts of energy for when the facility could not collect as much power.

Solar Two was actually originally Solar One, and was first built in 1981. Solar One used water and oil as experiments in storing solar energy, and after that data was collected in 1995 a second ring of heliostats was added around the facility, making it far larger.

They also switched from oil and water to molten salt, which allowed more energy to be stored in tanks for future use, such as night time. While this might not seem like much of a big deal, that was a pretty major breakthrough in the solar technology of the time, and opened the door for even more advancements to take place.

Solar Two was not only the first solar plant in that area, but it started at trend that has made Santa Fe the solar capital of the world. Solar Two wasn't like most solar plants in the area, but was used for experimentation, and the solar energy would be turned into steam to be used for electricity in the facility.

Solar Two was seen as a major part of some very significant technological advancements in solar energy, particularly in regards to developing large scale solar projects that were striving to get technology to the point where it could be seen as a future possibility for replacing fossil fuels and other conventional, but environmentally harmful, sources of energy.

Solar Two was officially decommissioned in 1999 before being handed over to the University of California, where it is now used to measure gamma rays hitting the atmosphere.

Although no longer a part of the advancement in solar technology, Solar Two showed that the new methods of storing solar power and using solar energy had advanced enough that they were ready to be used commercially to provide electricity to larger areas. These advancements will keep Solar Two well remembered, even long after the last solar experiments have ceased.