<i>How many solar thermal plants have been built before?</i><p>CSP has been around for a while, but not many plants have been built in the USA. Those that have been built haven&#x27;t done all too well.<p>Here&#x27;s a plant that was operational from 1982 to 1986: <a href="https:&#x2F;&#x2F;en.wikipedia.org&#x2F;wiki&#x2F;The_Solar_Project#Solar_One" rel="nofollow">https:&#x2F;&#x2F;en.wikipedia.org&#x2F;wiki&#x2F;The_Solar_Project#Solar_One</a><p>The most memorable thing about it was you could easily see it from airplanes flying in and out of SoCal.