The Ivanpah Solar Electric Generating System experienced a small fire, resulting in a temporary shutdown. Some of the wires at the solar power facility near the California-Nevada border were accidently zapped by the misaligned mirror.
The concentrated beams of sunlight falling on the wires melted them, resulting in a small fire. The facility powers more than 14,000 homes in California when it is fully operational. The sunlight focused by the 173,500 heliostats creates steam to drive the turbines at the power plant.
The melted wires, on which the sun rays were focused, were almost 300 feet up on one of the boilers of the plant. No casualty was reported in this accident and the boiler was shut down for repair. However, the power plant did not go off-grid and continued to function properly.
