Ivanpah solar farm struggling to reduce the number of birds killed

Doug Davis, manager of regulatory environmental services for NRG Energy Inc., talks about the measures being taken to keep birds, bats and other creatures away from the steam generators and other machines at the Ivanpah plant.

A sonic device is used to keep bats away from from a condensor unit at the Ivanpah solar plant.

The boiler on Unit 1 glows at the Ivanpah Solar Electric Generating System. The combined power generated from three units amounts to about 392 megawatts of renewable power by directing the sun’s rays onto giant tower-mounter boilers creating steam that spins to electricity-generating turbines.

A speaker box emits sounds known to drive birds away at the plant.

The bodies of insects that flew too close to one of the bright, hot, solar-receiving steam generators are collected near the base of one of the units.

The Ivanpah solar facility, just north of the Movave National Preserve and about 45 miles southwest of Las Vegas.

A dead insect is collected at the base of one of the solar units.

Dead insects and birds fall to the ground in a trail of smoke at the Ivanpah plant.