radiation at a point on a tower. This system is designed primarily to test different heliostat styles and configurations. The area around the tower has been thoroughly disturbed during construction and will remain that way and therefore is of little interest in terms of ecological impacts or changes over time. The total impacted area where the heliostats and tower are located does not exceed 30 hectares. This area has been asphalted for convenience of heliostat testing and therefore all potential ecological responses on site have been eliminated. The heliostats at the 5 MW solar thermal test facility, as of July 1977, were manufactured by Martin-Marietta and consisted of a 7 x 6.5 m (22* x 21’) panel of 25 mirrors (each 4’ x 4’) with spacing between the mirrors. When horizontal the panel was approximately four meters off of the ground surface but when vertical the lower edge was only one meter off of the ground. The heliostat tracked the sun by pivoting on both vertical and horizontal axes. When stored horizontally the heliostats were spaced approximately three meters apart (E-W) and six meters north-south. Shading of adjacent panels occurs in the early morning or late afternoon. The array of heliostats at this site is not very extensive so that the packing factor varies only slightly from near the tower to the area farthest from the tower. Systems in Planning A variety of solar conversion systems are in the planning stage to be constructed in the next few years for smaller units and in the next decade for larger systems. These systems include larger solar thermal power tower systems and small photovoltaic solar electric systems. The system that is due for initiation of construction in the next year or two is a 10 MWe solar thermal power tower (central receiver collector) system near Barstow, California. This system is not unlike the 5 MW STPS at Albuquerque. It does have some differences in design that will have a different influence on ecological responses. The overall area being impacted is three to four times as large (about 100 Ha). Because of the large area the heliostats near the power tower have a higher packing factor than those on the perimeter of the array. The ground surfaces of the site will probably not be permanently sealed (e.g., asphalt) but the surfacing has not been
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