Ivanpah Solar Plant Towers by RAFAA

Swiss design firm RAFAA has shared with us their entry to the invited competition for Ivanpah, a 392-megawatt solar thermal power facility currently being built by BrightSource Energy Inc in the Californian Mojave Desert. The project - which counts NRG Solar, Google and BrightSource as equity investors - is currently the largest solar plant under construction in the world.

For this project, the RAFAA design team, which includes Rafael Schmidt, Natalie Fabiani, Alessandra Frank, Katrina Stoll, and David Szabo, collaborated with engineer consultant Schlaich, Bergermann und Partner from Stuttgart, Germany.

Project Description from the Architects:

Ivanpah, which started construction in October 2010, is using mirrors to focus the power of the sun on solar receivers at the top of three 225m power towers. The complex is comprised of three separate plants to be built in phases between 2010 and 2013. The electricity generated by all three plants is enough to serve more than 140,000 homes in California during the peak hours of the day.

The proposal for the design of the towers does not only show solutions for the functional assignment, but also wants to give BrightSource Energy a strong image as a reliable leader in the field of sustainable technologies and tries to make a contribution to its corporate design. The design of the worlds largest Solar Plant shall serve as a powerful statement to ensure the company’s share in the fast growing solar technology market. For that purpose we have developed two different proposals.

The first proposal strictly adheres to the given budget and time frame and tries to have the greatest impact possible without having to fall back on major adjustments to the existing concept. The second proposal demonstrates a long-term strategy for BrightSource Energy.

Project Details:

Title: Solar Plant Towers, Ivanpah 
Design: RAFAA 
Location: Mojave Desert, California 
Client: BrightSource Energy Inc. 
Status: competition stage 
Engineer consultant: Schlaich, Bergermann und Partner, Stuttgart

Find more renderings and concept diagrams in the image gallery below.