From a distance, the Ivanpah solar plant looks like a shimmering lake in the Mojave Desert. Up close, it’s a vast alien-like installation of hundreds of thousand of mirrors pointed at three towers, ...

Solar panels have gotten so cheap that the plant, born of an old attempt at harnessing the power of the sun, appears to be obsolete.

From a distance, the Ivanpah solar plant looks like a shimmering lake in the Mojave Desert. Up close, it’s a vast alien-like installation of hundreds of thousand of mirrors pointed at three ...