Mojave Desert

The Mojave Desert (pronounced "mohárvee") is a barren stretch of land running south of the Sierra Nevada and north of the San Bernardino and San Gabriel mountains, covering an area of 15,000sq.mi/38,850sq.km, its eastern boundary being formed by the states of Nevada and Arizona. Although the main parts of the desert are very hot and dry, attempts at agricultural cultivation in the extreme west, Antelope Valley (Los Angeles County), have been crowned with success. Originally, the Chemehuevi and Mojave Indians lived here.

Solar technology

As the sun pours down on many days of the year (over 3,000 hours), the average air-humidity is very low (thus protecting the steel in the modern industrial plant from rust) and vast land-areas are for the most part unused, the Mojave Desert offers ideal conditions for the production of regenerative energy. In this region of America most energy is consumed around midday, for the Californians switch on their air-conditioning punctually at twelve o'clock.